Operation Torchbearer
by killroyzach101
Summary: When tensions between two large rival oil companies begin to draw international attention, newly recruited CIA agent Elsa Winters is sent to Paris where the two companies are headquartered to investigate along with the US Seventh Fleet's Tombstone Squad. Set in the timeline of Battlefield 3/4, after the "War of 2020." Possible Elsanna. Rated M for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1: The Briefing

**A/N: Ok, so this is probably going to be my first story that I've ever written in my life. Some ideas came out of my head for this one, some didn't. With that said, I would like to give credit where credit is due. This story is inspired from loveable-elsanna's "Operation GingerAil." Anyways, this story is a crossover between Frozen and the campaigns of Battlefield 3 and 4. Some additional information to know in this AU: Vladimir and Kiril survive the nuclear explosion in Paris, Dima survives the fall from the mountain (more on this later), all of Tombstone Squad at the end of the Battlefield 4 campaign mission of Suez survive (Irish, Recker, Hannah, and Pac), as well as the Valkyrie and its crew. Be sure to leave a review, and enjoy!**

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><p>"Hey Reck, wake up."<p>

"Mmmughh...Irish...what is it?"

"Get up, it's important. Garrison wants us topside in ten mikes."

As the hazy blur of waking up from a long nap came into focus, Sergeant Daniel Recker turned to see his squadmate, Sergeant Kimble Graves, better known as Irish, standing next to his bed. An urge creeped into Recker to punch Irish and roll over to go back to sleep, but he resisted. He'd seen too much violence in his life, and who knows what Captain Garrison wanted.

"How important?" Recker's voice ached with lethargy.

"Top-secret important. Now get up, I'll meet you in the briefing room with the rest of Tombstone." And with that, Irish exited the small tin can of a 6-bed cabin Recker was assigned to.

_Shit, I hope I don't have to experience anything that will get me killed_, Recker thought to himself as he hopped off the bed he was laying on. He didn't have to change clothes or anything, as he had been sleeping in his combat uniform. As Recker walked toward the briefing room, he recollected what happened on his last mission that occurred six months ago, and that had almost gotten him killed. While pursuing Chinese Admiral Chang in the Suez Canal, the USS Valkyrie almost got destroyed, but was saved last minute when Recker, Irish, and a Chinese intelligence agent named Hannah had driven a RHIB boat right to the side of a Chinese warship where Admiral Chang was overseeing the attack on the Valkyrie. They had planted a C4 charge on the side of the warship, and had grappled their way up to a bridge above the colossal ship. Only then did they found out the charge was a dud, and one of them had to drop back down to set a new one. Irish and Hannah bickered over which one of them would go down, but Recker had volunteered to go down. After much protest from Irish, Recker unhooked himself and dropped back down to reset the charge. After giving the signal that it was set, Recker swam as fast as he could before the charge was detonated. Unfortunately, when the charge exploded, Recker was a hit by a piece of debris and was knocked unconscious. Several hours later, he found to his surprise he was in the med bay of the Valkyrie, alive and well.

If Irish went down there himself, he probably would've said, "No fucking regrets." Me? Well, I guess that's what I signed up for. Recker was well aware of the risks of a Marine, but since the War of 2020 was over, he was curious to see what Garrison had requested him for.

Finally reaching the briefing room, Recker took a huge breath and opened the door. He saw Captain Garrison and Irish, but was surprised to see Sergeant Clayton "Pac" Pakowski and Hannah. They were all in full combat gear (so was Recker) and turned to see Recker enter the room.

"Captain Garrison, Sergeant Recker reporting in. What d'ya need me for?

"Come on over here, I'll brief you."

As soon as Recker joined the rest of Tombstone Squad, as well as Recker giving a couple of nods of greeting to Hannah and Pac, Garrison began to brief them.

"So, you all are probably wondering why I requested all four of you here. Well, let me explain."

Garrison pulled something up on a computer sitting on the table in front of him and projected it onto a screen behind him. What he showed were two men and a map of Europe.

"I'm sure you all know about the two largest oil companies in the world right now. If you don't, well let me brief on it. Here on the left, we have a man named Edgar Nicholson, CEO of Nicholson International, a large United States oil company that primarily profits the US, and many of the oil fields that he has under his control span across the globe, including Europe. The other picture shows Anatoly Voronkov, CEO of Medved Neftegazovyy, a Russian-based oil company much larger than Nicholson, and they also have oilfields across the world. See where I'm going with this?"

Irish responded, "No sir, what are you implying?"

Garrison continued, "Recently, there have been conflicts between the two companies. Nicholson has been forcing Medved to sell them their oilfields near Russia, especially in the Caucasus region. However, Nicholson has been facing financial difficulties, but is slowly recovering. Early intelligence on the situation shows Voronkov wants all of the European oilfields that Nicholson owns, and is willing to go to extremes to get that accomplished. This is where the financial difficulty problem comes in. Since they're having money problems, we believe that they won't be able to afford security personnel to protect their oilfields and offices. One of the most vulnerable locations is their headquarters in Paris, where Medved also happens to be headquartered. Let me pull up some SAT images."

As Garrison pulled up some images on the screen behind him, Recker thought as to where this was leading to. Hopefully, nothing too dangerous.

Finally loading the images on-screen, Garrison turned behind to show Tombstone what he was talking about.

The image was of a large avenue in Paris, but the focus was on a large building at an intersection on the avenue.

"This here is the headquarters of Nicholson International." And pulling up another image, Garrison said, "and here is the headquarters of Medved, literally blocks down the street from where Nicholson is stationed. What we think is what's happening is that Medved might be hiring militants and spec ops agents to spy and attack the Nicholson HQ. If you look closely here," Garrison pointed to a few dots in front of the building, "these are probable hired mercenaries, but we believe they are Russian spec ops as security detail."

Pac chimed in, "So, what's our mission?"

Garrison responded, "Your mission, is to protect Mr. Nicholson and his family, who also live in Paris not too far from the headquarters. If necessary, perform some recon on Medved and provide intelligence to me, which I'll relay to JSOC and the CIA. On that note, the CIA has managed to buy out an entire floor of an apartment building just two blocks east of the Nicholson headquarters. But that also means one thing," Garrison turned to Recker, "Sergeant Recker, another CIA agent will be taking the reins again."

Recker heard Irish grumble, but Pac kicked him in the leg to keep Irish quiet.

Recker said, "His name?"

"Well, actually the person's a she this time. Her name is Special Agent Elsa Winters, and she'll be conducting this operation. She already has boots on the ground and has been conducting recon on Medved for the past two weeks. She'll brief you further when you arrive at the apartment building.

Irish couldn't hold it anymore, "But..."

Garrison knew what was coming if he allowed this to continue, "Irish, I'm not having this discussion. You will obey her orders, do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Irish sounded like a puppy dog that was just denied a treat.

"Anyways, all four of you will be deployed to Paris in an hour. And one last thing, and all of you need to look me in the eye on this one."

Everyone turned directly to face Garrison as he said, "Unless absolutely fuckin' necessary, do not blow your cover. And that's one thing I forgot to mention. You will be undercover for this mission, and your identities will only be known to Mr. Nicholson, his small security detail, and his family."

"Oo-rah," Pac said in agreement.

Turning to Hannah, Garrison spoke, "I'm glad you could join us on this mission Hannah, but you know you don't have to do this."

Hannah responded, "This will most likely be my last mission with Tombstone, but quite frankly, I'm honored to be working with you all."

"Thank you Hannah." Then Garrison turned to the rest of Tombstone, "Alright, make sure to gear up. Like I said, transport leaves in less than an hour. Dismissed."

After a minute or two, everyone had vacated the room except for Recker. He was looking at the two pictures of the CEOs of the world's biggest oil companies. He knew how much the US profited from Nicholson, and how much Russia profited from Medved. It would only take a spark, and Recker knew well enough what a spark could turn into. Recker examined Nicholson for a few seconds. The man was around 6 feet in height, and had auburn hair, a small mustache across his upper lip, light blue eyes, oval face, and a large nose. The man almost looked like someone familiar, but Recker couldn't pinpoint where. Looking at the other picture, Voronkov was slightly shorter than Nicholson. He had black hair, brown eyes, round face, small eyebrows and nose. But there was something shared between both men that Recker could infer from both pictures, and that was that they both looked like they had authority over the world, instead of having authority over a large oil company. But that wasn't for Recker to decide. All his mission consisted of was to protect Mr. Nicholson and his family, while also conducting intelligence on Medved Neftegazovyy. Recker knew this could potentially be dangerous, since it might even involve infiltrating the Medved HQ itself.

And then Recker remembered Agent Winters. He worried about how her interaction would be with the squad, especially with Irish. Even after watching Agent Kovic die before his eyes, he knew Irish still hated every single memory he had of Kovic, and Recker hoped for the best that Irish could get along with Winters. Remembering the time when Irish had hit Kovic with his machine gun, Recker cringed. I just hope our mission isn't compromised because of a poor interaction between Irish and a CIA agent. Hell, Irish probably mentally blacklisted all CIA agents as enemies. Who knows, but anyways, Recker had somewhere to be other than the briefing room. With uncertainty clouding his mind, Recker exited the briefing room to gear up in the tin can of a room he called his "second home."

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><p><strong>AN:** **Just as a heads-up, I plan to write this story from three points-of-view (the major ones), these being Dima Mayakovsky and Daniel Recker from the Battlefield franchise, and Elsa from the movie Frozen. And on that note, none of these characters belong to me, they all belong to the respective companies of DICE/EA and WDAS. All rights go to them. Anyways, next chapter will be an elaboration on Dima and his unit and as well as Tombstone meeting Elsa. And finally, there will be Russian and French spoken in subsequent chapters with English translations in parentheses. Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a review!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrivals

**A/N: Ok, basically this is the extension of the exposition. I'm still introducing characters but I promise things will get more "lively" next chapter. By the way, I'm also making a change to earlier plans. Everything will be written in English, because it's really way too much of a hassle to copy and paste things from translators. From now on, I'll have Dima, Vladimir, and Kiril speak in English in their conversations. (Isn't the story categorized under English anyways?) Anyways, I have a lot of ideas for upcoming chapters, so if you want to get updates on those, be sure to either follow or fav this story! Thanks!**

**Again, if you missed it, I do not own any of the characters from Frozen or the Battlefield franchise. All rights belong to them, respectively (i.e. Elsa to Frozen, Recker to Battlefield, etc.).**

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><p>"This place has significantly recovered since we were last here.<p>

The robotic and soft voice of Vladimir snapped Dima out of his daydream and recollected his thoughts. Then he remembered he was in Paris. Paris. Dima turned over the city name in his mind and then focused on what Vladimir had said. Then he recalled the events that happened almost six years ago. The other man in the vehicle, Kiril, who was driving, spoke Dima's thoughts.

"I agree. I still can't believe we failed to stop the nuke."

Vladimir responded, "We tried. Let's put it behind us, and focus on this mission. Maybe we can make up for it this time around."

Dima piped up, "It could've been a lot worse if Solomon detonated the nuke in New York."

Vladimir raised a question, "And who was it that stopped him? An American marine? I forgot his name."

"Sergeant Henry Blackburn. I also heard he had one of his partners with him, but was killed."

"Well, all that mattered was that the nuke was secured." Dima secretly hated how Vladimir was willing to push aside casualties if the objective was completed. Last time they were here, Vladimir had ordered both Kiril and Dima to shoot anyone in their way of getting the nuke that was at large, even if it meant killing the French police. They had shot their way through squads of innocent police officers, and still failed to get the nuke. _Well, it was a fake anyways, but we still killed dozens of innocent officers..._ That was one thing Dima couldn't let go of.

Changing the topic, Kiril said, "So glad to get to work with Anatoly again. Haven't seen him in years."

Vladimir piped up, "You know who I'm glad to work with again?" Tuning to Dima, he said, "Dima. Never thought I'd see you again after you got arrested."

Dima knew what he was talking about. Vladimir was referencing his arrest and his deportation to China. After being falsely indicted for the detonation of the nuclear bomb in Paris, he was imprisoned in a remote prison in the Kunlun Mountains in China. It was years before he was finally able to escape with the help of Sergeant Recker, and he was presumed dead by his companions when the tram he was on crashed on top of him. He had managed to survive, somehow, and made his way out of the mountain range by himself. Eventually, he found transport back to Russia. After a few days, he stumbled his way into a Moscow hospital, in which he was treated for his injuries and malnourishment. GRU had heard of his reappearance, and sent one of their superiors to re-recruit him. He accepted.

Going back to what Kiril had said, Vladimir agreed with him, saying, "Yeah, we trained with Anatoly thirty-one years ago. Went into Spetsnaz twenty-nine years ago, and after that, we split off for GRU fifteen years ago. So yeah, it's been a while."

Anatoly Voronkov had been training to become a Spetsnaz operative the same time as Vladimir, Kiril, and Dima were doing so. They had been in the same class, and even assigned to the same platoon. Dima remembered how lively and energetic the man was, but knew how much of a dark side the man possessed out in the field. He was a ruthless warrior, and was feared among the members of his unit. But after only a few years, he had resigned from the Spetsnaz, and decided to go to school to get a degree. Six years later, he had founded Medved, and has been overseeing the company's growth ever since. _That company is like his trophy_, Dima thought. And now, the company came into conflict with another company called Nicholson International, and that's why Dima and the rest of his squad had been sent by GRU to protect Voronkov and his headquarters in Paris. Because apparently, five blocks down, stood the headquarters of Nicholson. _This ought to be an interesting mission..._ Dima personally enjoyed the challenge, and was looking forward to this.

Snapping out of his thoughts once again, Dima heard Vladimir giving Kiril directions through the dense afternoon traffic.

"Make a left up here. Drive straight down this street for a few blocks and stop at the light. Make a left there, then make a right. It should be straight in front of us at that point."

Dima decided to ask a pressing question, "By the way, where are we going to be staying?"

Vladimir responded, "Anatoly was kind enough to make three rooms for us in the headquarters itself. So just in case something happens, we can be on the scene within minutes."

"Sounds good to me. Aren't we supposed to be meeting Anatoly today?"

"Yes, we'll drive around back behind the building and park there. Anatoly felt safer with the meeting there then up front because of security. Who knows, Nicholson may have already hired someone to spy on us. Anyways, he should be waiting for us." And that got Dima thinking. He remembered what Sergeant Blackburn had did. He basically was the only one who prevented a large-scale war between the US and Russia. But he also remembered another thing. The Americans who helped him escape from a Chinese prison in the Kunlun Mountains. What were their names again? Recker, and the other man was Irish. _Both were skilled fighters, and he figured that's what kept them as Marines. Both certainly deserved the title. Weren't they also part of the operation that killed Admiral Chang? Eh, I don't know._ Dima remembered reading about it in the papers, but quite frankly, the editors kept it short. Not a word of who killed the Admiral and sunk his warship, but hopefully, he'll find out in the future. All in all, he hoped against hope that he wouldn't have to kill any Americans on this mission. _Peaceful resolutions..._

Dima didn't go any further with his thoughts because before he knew it, the car he was in stopped behind the building that housed the headquarters of Medved Neftegazovyy, and right outside to his left, he saw Anatoly Voronkov with four bodyguards, most likely hired mercenaries. Voronkov was dressed in a business suit, black coat and pants, blue tie, white collared shirt, and black shoes. Everything about the man seemed to evoke power and leadership.

Vladimir was the first one to speak, "Alright Dima, let's go." Kiril and Vladimir were the first to exit and exchange words with Anatoly, and Dima followed suit just a few seconds later.

"Hello my friends! How are my former comrades doing?" Dima wasn't at all surprised to see the man was still lively as he was during Spetsnaz training.

Vladimir decided to do the talking, "We're doing great. Let's get down to business. What do you need us for?"

"Good old Vladimir. How do the Americans say it? "Cutting to the chase." Alright, let's go inside, kind of chilly out here anyways." It was only September, but it was rather brisk outside. All of the men went inside except two of the bodyguards, who stayed put beside the door leading into the building.

Anatoly began, "Now that we are behind closed doors, let me tell you why you're here, _primarily_."

Dima was in utter awe of the interior of the building. It wasn't much from the outside, but it was nice and modern on the inside. It reminded him of the Euronext Exchange, all the offices rooms with glass walls, carpets, atriums, and modern chandeliers.

Passing by a conference room, Anatoly continued, "We believe, or I believe, that the Americans may be planning something on my company. As you know, the headquarters of Nicholson International is situated five blocks from here, which proves problematic. They have demanded that we give up all of our oilfields in Eastern Europe. But recently, their debt skyrocketed and they repealed that demand. Now, it is our chance that we can see what they're up to. Personally, I think it is possible that we can obtain _all_ of Nicholson's oilfields in Europe. Obviously, not all of them can be bought, but it would be a way of showing force to America in general that they can't be imperialistic like this, demanding our oilfields that we worked so hard for. To me it is an insult! So, the reason why I brought you guys here is to add on as security detail. I need all three of you on the evening and night shifts. I feel all of you were fit for this job, so just in case we have a breach or something, I have the three of you to stop it! My security detail that I've hired so far excluding you guys is around twenty. Most leave during the night and I feel that is the most vulnerable. Are you willing to accept this job?"

Vladimir responded, "Yes sir, we won't let you down. But just to let you know, GRU has us here on its own terms, so keep that in mind. They also briefed us, if that makes any difference."

It felt weird to Dima how easy Anatoly managed to convince Dima's superiors at GRU to hire Dima's squad as personal protection agents. _Well, this company does primarily benefit Russia. Surprised GRU didn't provide any additional squads if they let us come along this easily._

Turning his attention back to Anatoly, Dima heard him speak, "It's fine, less work for me." Reaching a staircase leading up to the second floor and an underground floor, Anatoly continued, "I'm going to head up to my office. The armory is downstairs and your quarters are on the third floor. Take these stairs to that floor, then hang a left and go all the way down to the end."

Kiril took the response this time, "Alright, thank you."

As the men split off, Dima, Vladimir, and Kiril went down to the armory to see what Anatoly had for them. As they reached the door, a bodyguard opened the door for them. What they saw amazed them.

They were all kinds of weapons and guns lined up against the wall all to the way to the left, and in the middle, sat all kinds of gadgets and tools that might prove useful in reconnaissance. To the right, there were computer monitors with camera views on the entire avenue in which both company headquarters sat on.

As the men checked out what their gear for this mission was, they were unaware of someone who was similarly armed and awaiting reinforcements to begin her mission.

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><p>Sitting in a room with the blinds shut over the windows that overlooked the street outside, Special Agent Elsa Winters sat at a desk topped with at least a dozen monitors with cameras overlooking the avenue outside. It was painful to install them, especially having to do so as a disguised electrician, but she managed to pull it off.<p>

Elsa then looked at the clock on the wall behind her. _2:15...or really 14:15, three hours before Tombstone arrives._ She then looked back at the monitor directly in front of her and pulled up a file. The CIA had sent her some more files of Mr. Voronkov and Medved. Just some newspaper clippings and reports on recent events, stuff she could read later.

What was more pressing in her mind right now was this Tombstone Squad she was going to be working with. Elsa never really was a people type of person. Even though she was a brilliant student in school, she always struggled emotionally with making relationships, especially lasting ones. Realizing that her menial efforts at making friends proved fruitless, she just gave up on it and decided to shut anyone out who approached her in the hopes of making friends with her. Her looks didn't help either. Many guys had been love struck with her on first sight, calling her a "goddess above Aphrodite." She didn't like the comparison, but it stuck with her. After graduating from college, she decided the best job for a person of her personality was the CIA. The people at the head of the organization quickly realized how much of a successful agent she was on the field. Her first mission couldn't have gone any better, and her following assignments were successful as well. Considering her age (she was twenty-five), her gender, and her size (she was a frail person compared to her colleagues), she was probably one of the best agents the CIA had, and the best fit for this mission. This was going to be her eighth mission, and so far she had been doing this solo. But now, without her consent, she was going to be doing this with people from the Marines. She also heard there was going to be a Chinese intelligence agent with them as well. _Great, just fucking great. This mission was going so well these past few days._

But there was nothing she could do. The decision up top was made and she was going to have to find a way to work with these people. _Hopefully, there aren't like some of my colleagues, and God, some of those people are bastards_, remembering how some of her colleagues behaved in the office.

Turning her attention back to her computer, Elsa decided to go over the file on the Nicholson family. She found the file on the computer, and opened it up. The Nicholson family consisted of Mr. Nicholson himself, his wife Irene, their twenty-two-year-old daughter Anna, and their twelve-year-old son Olaf. She took a good look at each of them. Every one of them had been photographed outside the building. Elsa was surprised that Nicholson's house was half a mile away. She figured that they would at least buy a house closer to where Mr. Nicholson worked, but whatever. _This whole situation is fucked up, but oh well. The twenty-first century in a nutshell..._

After Elsa took a look at the parents, she moved on to the kids. She first read up on Anna. She was a beautiful girl, with strawberry blonde hair paired off into two braids on the shoulders, slightly tanned skin, freckles, blue eyes, small body, and frail arms. Huh, just like me. Elsa chuckled to herself at the similarity of her body and that of the redhead. She then looked at the description of her. _Hmm...twenty-two years old, born in enrolled at University of Paris, born and raised in LA, California for fifteen years before moving to Paris...we have a lot more in common than I thought we did..._remembering that she was also born and raised in Los Angeles before going into the CIA.

Closing the file, Elsa decided to get some rest before Tombstone arrived. After grabbing a small snack out of the fridge in the kitchen, she headed off to bed, not even bothering to take off her clothes.

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><p><strong>AN: And there's the end of Chapter 2! Thanks for bearing with me on this two chapter introduction, I promise it will get better next chapter! There will be more introductions (Elsa and Tombstone Squad), but for the most part, I expect to get into the Nicholsons more in detail. Make sure to leave a review, and follow/favorite if you like this story! It helps out a lot!**

**By the way, I highly suggest not reading this immediately when I post this. I still have to add some stuff to it and fix whatever FanFiction screws up. (Apparently, it didn't transfer my italics...-_-)**


	3. Chapter 3: First Impressions

**A/N: Update! Surprised I've been able to roll out these chapters so fast. Well, they're short anyways; I guess I'm really bad at writing long chapters. This one is a little longer (approximately twice as longer than Chapter 2), and it jumps back and forth between Chapter 2 (basically filling in the gaps) and eventually continuing on with the plot. Well I'm not going to hold you up any longer, so here it is!**

**Quick note: I'm making a change to where the Nicholson house is located. If you don't want to go back to Chapter 2 to look at the change, their house is about half a mile away from where Mr. Nicholson works at (the HQ), and it's a mansion. (I may have said earlier that it was an apartment, but disregard that. Personally, I don't think any CEO would buy an apartment, no matter how close it is to his/her workplace.)**

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><p>"NO!" Anna's scream broke the silence of the large house, waking everyone up from the sleep. It had been probably the thousandth nightmare that happened to her over the past three years. With sweat dribbling down her face and breathing as hard as a marathon runner after a long race, she burst into tears. Seconds later, her mother came into the bedroom, still in her nightgown, and Anna looked up.<p>

"Did it happen again?" her mother asked, voice filled with comfort but at the same time, sorrow.

"Y-yes. I-I...don't know..." Anna's tears just kept coming, and it was hard for her to speak. Anna's mother knew what she was talking about, and it was a touchy subject to discuss.

Three years ago, when Anna first entered the University of Paris after completing high school, she had found a boyfriend within three months. He was a junior at the university, and his name was Hans Westergaard. A Norwegian boy two years older than Anna, he had Anna lovestruck for him within a matter of hours. They had dated for the next two years, and when Hans' graduation date approached, he had decided to leave the worst going-away gift to Anna. Since he was moving back to Norway, he had thought he could get away with it. That night, he told Anna he was going to take her to a nice restaurant, just a way to remember him when he was gone. At one point in the meal, Anna had to use the restroom, and after she left, Hans snuck a paralyzing drug into her drink. After she came back and drank from her drink, she started to feel extremely tired.

Hans' plan was put into action. Offering to drive her home, he loaded her up in the passenger seat, and at that point, she had passed out. When she woke up, she found herself in a bare room, laying on a bed, with her arms tied behind her over her head to the bedposts, and her mouth covered with tape. After recalling the previous events, she started to scream, but most of it was muffled by the tape. A few seconds went by, and Hans walked in. She gave him a look to release her from the bed, but instead, Hans began to strip himself, and then Anna realized what he was going to do. After stripped himself down to nothing, he began to strip Anna, and that's when she started to panic. Then the awful reality dawned on her. She was going to be raped.

After fully stripping Anna, Hans began to whisper things in her ear, like, "Be a good girl now," and "It's going to be alright." At that point, without any warning, Hans began to pound himself into her, something Anna described as "the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life." Tears continuously streamed down her face, Anna was so filled with regret, because she had thought this relationship was true love, when in fact, there was her boyfriend, practically using her for his own pleasure without a care in the world for the pain she was feeling at the time. She had pleaded him through the tape to stop, but to no avail. All Anna could do was lay there and take the pain. After about a few minutes, Hans orgasmed. At that moment, Anna's phone began to buzz with a call from her dad, wondering where she was at. Remembering that Anna's phone had a tracker on it, Hans quickly dressed himself, looked around the room, and vanished, leaving Anna laying there in pain and in tears.

It was only about 30 minutes later that her parents arrived at the location where Anna was kidnapped to, along with several police officers. It took them only half a minute to locate her in the large abandoned factory outside of Paris in which Hans had taken Anna to. She was found on the third floor in a small room with a single lightbulb that was flickering. She was quickly released from the restraints and dressed. She didn't speak until she got to the police station, tears still streaming down her face about what had just happened. The police had decided to take it easy with the questioning, but Anna was very compliant with them, and she gave them a detailed account of what had just happened. A thorough investigation by the French police revealed that Hans had planned to kill Anna, matching up to the point that Anna told the police as, "he looked around the room before he left." He was actually looking for his pocket knife, which was later found in his apartment. Hans eventually was apprehended at Charles de Gaulle airport at the security checkpoint. He was later questioned, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to ten years in prison for one account of rape.

But even being locked away in a maximum security prison for ten years, Hans still impacted Anna in her everyday life. First came the change in emotions. Anna became more withdrawn and depressed. Even after seeing a psychologist for a year, it hadn't helped much. Anna distrusted a lot of people, and sometimes after she had a nightmare, she flinched when someone from her own family walked in the door to comfort her and see if she was alright. She had decided to stop living in a dorm on-campus at the University of Paris and moved back in with her family, for fear someone would sneak in her dorm and rape her.

But Anna's family wasn't willing to give up on helping her through this. Even after the event, which was two years ago, Anna still had a ways to go, emotionally. She always used to be cheery and bubbly, but now she was awkward and shy around people, especially strangers. At one point, Anna even asked her parents if she could go out and buy pepper spray to carry around on her person, but her parents decided against it. They were concerned about Anna's safety, but more concerned about others' as well.

Coming back from her thoughts, Anna's mother Irene, comforted her, "It's alright Anna, he can't get to you. Do you need something to drink?"

Anna politely declined, "No mama, I'm fine. I-I just wish the nightmares would go away."

"None of this is your fault honey."

"IF I DIDN'T FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE, NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED!" The sudden outburst was quickly followed by more tears.

Irene let out a sight, and that's when her husband walked in.

Edgar spoke in a silent voice, "Bad dream?" Irene nodded.

Edgar looked at his watch, "5:30 AM, her classes start in a few hours." Irene took note of that as she held Anna in a hug, trying to comfort her.

"You think you'll be ready by seven to go to school?" Irene asked Anna. She nodded.

Edgar spoke again, "Irene, if you don't mind, may I have a word with you?" Irene agreed.

Edgar then took Irene to the kitchen, and he started, "Is our protection agent ready to go?"

"I'm not sure, she agreed to follow and protect Anna on the way to school."

"Call her up, and see if she's ready."

"Alright, let me find a phone." Irene left the kitchen to find a house phone. She knew was her husband was talking about. Just two days ago, their driver had gotten into a car wreck on the way home and was hospitalized. Both she and Edgar had agreed to allowing their CIA protection agent follow their daughter on the way to school, since now she had to walk. The university wasn't that far, but with tensions heating up with Medved Neftegazovyy and Anna's insecurity issues, they had decided the best way for Anna to be protected was with their CIA agent that they had requested for protection. Her name was Elsa Winters, and was apparently one of the best agents the CIA had to offer. But what burdened Irene was that the CIA protection that they had requested for was kept a secret from the children. Edgar had worried Olaf might brag about it at school, and somehow, it would make it to Mr. Voronkov, the CEO of Medved, and then he would see it as an act of aggression. _That would only make things worse..._ Irene thought to herself as she finally found a phone. Personally, she thought it was unnecessary for Olaf and Anna to not know they had a CIA agent protecting them, aside from the bodyguards they hired (who didn't amount to much, considering the fact that Voronkov could be hiring Russian mercenaries to spy on the Nicholson family). _This is just one big mess..._ Irene dialed in the number, and waited for the other end to pick up.

* * *

><p><strong>The evening before.<strong>

As the private taxi had pulled up next to its destination, the driver spoke to his passengers, "Alright, this is your stop amigos."

"Thanks. Flynn, right?" Sergeant Pakowski asked from the back.

"Yeah, that's the name. Ring me up anytime and I'll get you to where you need to go."

Tombstone Squad had gotten a private taxi driven by a CIA operative named Flynn. He was real chatty on the way from the airport. He was a funny sight, with an American tourist shirt and shorts, long hair, glasses, hair tied up in a ponytail. The whole image of Flynn seemed to evoke an image of unprofessionalism and quirkiness.

But Recker was at his destination, so he didn't care. Recker looked to see the building in which Agent Winters was operating out of. It looked like just another apartment building, but he knew there were probably tons of equipment spread around the floor in which the CIA managed to buy out. _I hope there's enough rooms for all of us... _Recker looked at his watch. 5:15. Right on time. As Tombstone stepped out of the vehicle, they all bid goodbye to Flynn, who drove away in the black Rolls-Royce.

Once Tombstone found their way to the floor in which the CIA had rented out, they had to figure out which room Agent Winters was in. There were a total of six rooms (the building was small, as it was bunched up next to other buildings, typical of the architecture and layout of Paris), so Tombstone had to check them all. But once they started to knock on doors, Agent Winters appeared out of a doorway at the end of the hall.

"Tombstone Squad?" She seemed rather hostile.

Irish responded, "Yes ma'am, we are."

"Get in here. I have some things to go over."

Recker was surprised at how cold and unemotional the woman was. If he had met her in other circumstances, he would avoid her. But at first sight looks-wise, she was a stunning woman. Long platinum blonde hair beautifully wrapped into a single braid draped over her left shoulder, large blue eyes, small lips and nose. _And her frame too. You'd figure that a CIA agent would at least be strong, but I guess that's probably what makes Agent Winters an ideal spy. The unlikely are the likely. _Recker followed Agent Winters first, who was followed by the rest of Tombstone.

Once the door was shut behind them, Agent Winters stood behind a table, in front of some monitors. Recker took in what was around him. It was a normal apartment, with a bathroom to the left, a bedroom to the right, and a living room in front of him. But the living room wasn't any normal living room. The side wall was lined with monitors and video feeds, and the coffee table, sofas, and chairs were filled with gadgets and papers.

"I'm sure we all know each other by now, so I don't think there's a need for an introduction. You can call me Elsa or Agent Winters, either one works. Getting down to business, I would clarify a few things that maybe Captain Garrison missed in his brief. As far as I know, on your Shanghai mission, you were unaware of Chinese Spec Ops being present. So I would expect that there may have been a few errors in your briefing."

Turning to the monitors behind her, she pulled up an image of the street they were on, and images of Voronkov and Nicholson.

"I would like to start off by saying that I've made a change in our mission. No one will know about us except for Mr. Nicholson and his wife, since they requested our presence in the first place. This means that the staff of the Nicholson headquarters, the bodyguards, and the children of Mr. Nicholson will be unaware of the five of us. Under _no_ circumstances, may you blow your cover. One exception to this is if you are being fired upon. The chances of that happening are unlikely, but be ready for anything. That's why you're here."

Elsa continued, "As you may already know, we have hidden cameras covering the avenue." And with that, she pulled up a window on the monitor to show a couple dozen camera views on the avenue. "Someone will have to be watching this, each and every time one of us is on this avenue. All of you should have mics with you, just in case you're in trouble. I would also suggest carrying at least a pistol, hidden underneath your clothing, but easy to take out."

"Our first "mission" starts tomorrow morning. The chauffeur who drove the children to and from places got in an accident, and they will have to walk to get to school. That means, one of us will have to follow each of them. I will be protecting the girl Anna, so any volunteers for the boy?"

Pac raised his hand. "Excellent. The rest of you can man the cameras and tell us if anything is wrong. For now, get some rest. I will see you all in the morning. Set your alarms to 6:30 am. If you need anything, let me know."

Recker was shocked at how to-the-point this woman was. She explained everything she needed to know, and was surprised at how quiet Irish had been during the briefing, let alone all of Tombstone remaining silent. _I guess all of us had the same impression of her. _Recker left the room to go to his own, and decided to get some shut-eye before the mission tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Elsa was wrestling with a pressing issue in her mind. _Well, they aren't that bad at first sight. Maybe this won't be a bad thing after all._ But that didn't mean that she was going to let her guard down. Elsa definitely intended to protect her identity and her story from Tombstone. She didn't like it at all when people learned things about her. _Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know..._ Elsa felt like she was giving this way more attention and trouble than it deserved. She decided to silence it with some food. Walking over to her fridge, she frowned when she didn't find anything. She decided to go out to some café. After putting on a scarf, coat, and boots, Elsa crept out of her room and down the stairs. She felt guilty as she left without the rest of Tombstone. But she knew where the conversation would steer towards. Getting to know each other. _That's the last thing I would fucking do... _Elsa thought to herself as she settled on going to a sandwich shop.

* * *

><p><strong>The following morning.<strong>

Elsa awoke to the sound of a phone ringing, and she quickly darted out of bed to answer it. She knew it could only be one person. Or two, depending on how you look at it. Picking up the phone, the voice on the other end confirmed her assumptions.

"Hello?" Elsa asked, her voice laced with tiredness.

_"Sorry to wake you Ms. Winters."_

"Oh no, it's fine. What do you need?"

_"I was just calling to check in. I would appreciate it if you called back to let me know that you're ready."_

"I will. Just let me know when Anna leaves for school. I'll follow a considerable distance behind her but not close enough to where she'll notice me."

_"Ok, thank you so much."_

"You're welcome. Goodbye."

After Elsa hung up the phone, she started to get dressed. _Hopefully I don't have to wake up the rest of Tombstone. That would ruin this whole day._

And at that exact moment, she heard a knock on the door. Quickly pulling a blue shirt over her head and putting on a pair of jeans. After straightening up her hair a little bit, she answered the door to find the whole of Tombstone ready to go.

"Oh! I didn't expect all of you to be up this early and ready to go. Give me some time to finish getting dressed and I'll let you know when you can come in."

After closing the door, she went to go put on her makeup, braid her hair, and put on the rest of her clothing. She felt a pang of guilt sting her as she had been dismissive of Tombstone, just two minutes ago and last night. _Who cares, maybe they'll get the message that I don't want to personally interact with them._ It just wasn't her thing, Elsa reassured herself.

Back outside, Tombstone found a few chairs to sit on.

Irish was the first to speak, "Anyone else think this Elsa girl is being a bitch for no reason?"

No one could really argue with him, except against his choice of words. But even that wasn't a valid standpoint for an argument. Everyone had picked up on Elsa's hostility and dismissiveness right away.

"It's like she doesn't even want us around," Pac sounded melancholy as he spoke for the whole of the squad.

"You know, I worked with a lot of people like her back in Chinese intelligence," Hannah sounded like a mother trying to soothe an upset child, "usually you have to give those people some room. Sometimes, they've been through the most pain or trauma in their lives, and they get like that. They just want to be alone sometimes. I say we just give her some room, what do you guys think?"

The irrationality of Irish got the better of him, "Yo Hannah give me a break. I bet this is a setup or some shit."

Recker grew agitated, "Come on Irish, didn't you learn anything the last time?"

"Yeah well this is different. That Agent Kobitch left us for dead surrounded by the Chinese. We were lucky we even got out alive. Now we have this bitch treating us like secondaries. I feel like we're being left out of something. The worst thing is that Reck isn't even squad leader."

Pac spoke before Recker could, "Garrison's orders Irish."

"Fuck Garrison's orders. By the end of this mission, I'm going to find out what's wrong with Elsa."

Recker let a deep sigh. Irish clearly still had a solid memory of Agent Kovic, even though he died months ago. Agent Kovic had done things Irish didn't like, in the defense that the mission mattered more than the lives of people.

Recker finally spoke, "Guys, just drop it. Let's change the topic to something else, ok?"

Everyone agreed, much to Recker's surprise, and they made small talk until Agent Winters was finished and had signaled them to come into her room.

Elsa briefed them, "Alright, so here's the plan. Anna and Olaf will be going two separate routes to school, and they aren't that far from the house. As we decided last night, Sergeant Pakowski will be following Olaf, and I will be following Anna. The rest of you will keep overwatch until we are off this avenue. At that point, we'll keep in contact with our radios. Pac, give the signal when Olaf reaches his school, and come back straight back here. Keep him in your sights, don't stop for anything. Got it?"

"Yup, you can count on me."

"Good." Turning to the whole group, she said, "Everyone understand the plan? Yes? Any questions?"

No questions, so Elsa continued, "Excellent. I'm assuming you all have callsigns for each other. Well, I'm sorry to say that you won't be using those callsigns. My callsign is Alpha 1, Recker is Alpha 2, Irish is Alpha 3, Pac is Alpha 4, and Hannah is Alpha 5. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. "Ok then, good luck everybody."

* * *

><p>Anna was surprised to see how she recovered so quickly from how much crying she had done earlier. After showering and getting dressed, she looked herself in the mirror. She didn't like what she saw to be honest. The psychologist she had been visiting had told her to be positive, and to think positive things. All she could think of right now were negative things about herself. How much guilt plagued her from her relationship with Hans. Just getting over it seemed like an impossible barrier, like trying to fill a small hole in the sand on a beach with the ocean's water.<p>

After putting on the final touches of her makeup, she quickly braided her hair into two braids that draped down to her shoulders and went downstairs for breakfast.

Her mother was cooking up an omelette, still maintaining her inner American cook even after living in Europe for several years. Olaf was sitting at the table eating bacon and eggs along with Edgar, who was sipping on coffee and reading the news on his tablet.

Irene noticed Anna first, "Morning Anna, how'ya feeling?"

"A little better, I guess."

Without breaking his attention from his tablet, Edgar asked, "When's your next appointment with the psychologist?"

"Wednesday, 5:00 in the evening."

Irene broke the conversation, "Edgar, let's just drop the topic, ok?"

"Fine."

"Anna, dear, your omelette is ready."

Reaching for her plate of food, Anna sat down at the table to eat.

"How's university going?"

School wasn't necessarily a topic that Anna's father regularly discussed. He trusted her to make good grades and do well. And she did. She was studying Sociology and Applied Human Sciences, and it required a lot of effort. But it wasn't anything compared to what she was dealing with right now.

"Great, I guess."

"You guess? Yes or no?"

"Yes. I am."

"Be confident about yourself, Anna. You're a smart girl and you know it."

Anna felt like her dad was still trying to sneak in some hidden form of discussion/lesson about what happened earlier. _He's so good at doing this, and I'm surprised Mom hasn't noticed..._

It didn't take her long to finish her omelette, as she had kept quiet as the others talked. Gathering her backpack and other materials, she went to talk to her parents one last time.

"Are you guys sure this is the safest idea?"

Her father took the response, "You'll be fine, Anna. Trust us on this one, we wouldn't make you walk to school if we didn't think it was safe. Besides, there aren't many people out and about this early in the morning."

Anna simply gave up. It was useless arguing with her parents, and she was too tired to try to find a way out of this. "Alright, I'll trust you."

Irene gave her a kiss on the forehead, and Anna and Olaf were out the door.

Met by a chilly breeze, Anna pulled up her scarf closer to her chin, and bundled up her coat.

Olaf decided to break the silence between the two of them, "So, what happened this morning?" Anna was surprised to hear that her parents didn't tell Olaf anything about her nightmare. He knew about Hans, the rape, and the nightmares. _Probably just wants to start a conversation._

"The usual. It's been getting less frequent now. The benefit of the passage of time, I guess..." Anna still seemed pessimistic about her future, even though the frequency of her nightmares dropped down to about 3-4 a week.

"You'll be alright Anna. I know you will."

Anna somehow felt reassured by his words, "Thanks Olaf." And then she gave him a hug right there on the sidewalk, not caring who saw them.

After a few more paces, their routes split off. With a simple goodbye, Anna continued along the street she had been walking on while Olaf took a right into an alley.

Anna had pulled her phone out to check her texts. She hadn't checked her phone since yesterday, which surprised her. She was usually an addict to her phone, sometimes staying up late on social media or texting her friends.

She had gotten a few texts from a couple of her friends, and she started to respond to all of them.

That's when her mom had sent her a text.

_-You'll be fine sweetie, just keep your chin up, and you'll be fine. :) Have a great day!_

_-Thanks Mom! You too!_

Anna felt like she was lying to her mom. She tried to sound positive, but she only did that just to make her mom not feel so concerned. Sometimes, she felt like her parents were slightly overprotective and overbearing. But, she took it anyways.

Anna finally finished up responding to texts and put her phone away, finally taking in the scene around her. The September air was brisk and chilly, and the leaves in the trees had started to change colors. There was mild traffic, surprising since Anna was in the center of town. _This city doesn't really wake up very early. _It was 6:50 in the morning. _You'd think some people would wake up by now. _But she didn't care. She enjoyed the relative silence of the early morning hours of a Monday.

There were a few pedestrians out and about, mostly just workers. As she looked around, she took note of all the people on the sidewalks. Businessmen and women, early risers, homeless people...just the usual. But one person in particular caught her eye. Sitting at a table outside of a café, was the most beautiful woman Anna had ever seen in her whole life. She was wearing a white coat, brown boots, blue jeans, a gray scarf, and a blue beanie. The woman had extremely pale skin, like it had refused to take on a tan her whole life. She had a small nose, lips, beautiful long platinum blonde hair braided nicely into a single braid draped on her left shoulder, and quite possibly the most gorgeous crystal blue eyes she had ever seen. Anna wouldn't have been surprised if the woman was a model, she looked to be in her mid-twenties. Anna observed more about the woman, while exercising caution to be sure she didn't bump into anything. The woman was sipping on a cup of coffee and was reading a newspaper. _Huh, didn't know people around my age still read newspapers. _

As Anna was nearing the woman, she looked at Anna and smiled. Anna's heart stopped. _Did she just smile at me? Oh yes she did. Stay calm Anna. Don't freak out. Just smile back and keep moving along._ But all Anna could do was stare, and the woman eventually went back to reading her paper. _Well great, there goes that first impression. Why do you always screw everything up Anna!_ Anna was mentally torturing herself to oblivion when she suddenly tripped over a bump in the sidewalk and fell backwards, letting out a cry. But as she stared up into the cloudy sky of Paris, it took her a few seconds to realize she didn't hit the ground, and that she was suspended over it.

Looking to her left, she saw the woman was holding her up, Anna's backpack literally an inch above the ground. Anna slightly recoiled in shock at the fact the woman rescued her from the fall so fast. She quickly tried to blurt out words of gratitude.

"Ugh...thanks! Thanks for saving me! I-I must've not been looking where I was going because I was looking at you and...wait what?" Suddenly realizing what she had said, Anna's cheeks flushed.

"Oh ugh ugh, I-I didn't mean for that to sound like that, not that you're ugly, but you're beautiful! Wait, what?" _Oh Anna, you've screwed up at this point._ _She probably thinks you're a weirdo by now. Could this get any worse?_

To her surprise, the woman simply chuckled and said, "It's alright. I'm used to it." _Oh my God, her voice, it sounded so angelic...could this woman be any more perfect? Wait, where did that thought come from? Oh, never mind._

"Well, thank you anyways! I actually have somewhere to get to, so um, thanks and have a good day!"

"You too. Stay safe!" The woman got up and went back to her table to resume her activities while Anna continued on. _Stay safe...I feel like that has some other meaning behind it..._ As Anna turned the woman's last two words over in her head, she was unaware that the woman who caught her had abandoned her unfinished cup of coffee and newspaper and began to follow her, smiling at her choice of words to Anna.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: PHEW! One of the longer chapters, and quite frankly, I think I would classify this as a filler chapter to be honest. Hopefully the length of this chapter will suffice as I work on the next one. I have a lot planned for the interactions between Elsa and Anna, but I'm not sure how far I'm going to get into their relationship before the main plot is over (the tensions between Medved and Nicholson). Right now, there simply aren't enough follows, favs, and views to start thinking about writing a sequel. But I have a lot of time on my hands right now (thanks to Christmas Break) and this is a good past-time while also improving my writing skills. When school starts back up, don't plan on daily updates. Expect weekly or monthly, whenever I get time.**

**As always, don't forget to leave a review or fav/follow if you are enjoying this! Those that follow/fav a story and use an account in doing so will receive an email if the story updates.**

**12/27/14 Update: Sorry for not updating in the past few days, just been taking a small break from this. Currently, I plan on releasing Chapter 4 very soon (within the next week). I also got a cover image for my story, which is 100% mine that I worked on using Adobe CS5 Photoshop (wasn't easy). Anyways, I hope you guys are having a fantastic holiday season! Back to the story, I think I will post author updates on my most recent author note of my last chapter, so make sure to check these out becuase they will contain important info. Right now, I'm just waiting to see how many viewers will check regularly for new chapters. And just as a reminder, be sure to leave a review! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: Changes

**A/N: Hello again! To be honest with you guys, this chapter was a little bit harder to crank out, simply because I'm running dry of ideas and I need some time to think about what to put in these chapters. Just as a quite note, "Medved Neftegazovyy" is phonetic Russian for "The Bear Oil and Gas," it wasn't something I made up (well, the English translation anyways). Which by the way, I had found out I had been misspelling that since Chapter 1, so I had fix that in all chapters. (And rolled out a few other changes as well.) And one last note, I will be using American measurements for all of the point-of-views for the Americans (Recker, Elsa, Anna, etc.), but I will be using the metric system for when the story is with Dima, Vladimir, and Kiril.**

**Just to be safe and in case you didn't catch it, most of the characters do not belong to me. Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Hans belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Recker, Irish, Hannah, Pac, Dima, Vladimir, Kiril, and Flynn (the pilot from BF: Bad Company 2, NOT Tangled) belong to Electronic Arts and Electronic Arts Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment AB (abbreviated EA DICE AB).**

* * *

><p>"Alpha 1, this is Alpha 2, report in."<p>

Recker had decided to break radio silence, as Elsa had not spoken for the past twenty minutes. The issue with going off from the avenue was that the cameras could no longer track whoever was out and about. Pac had checked in every five minutes, but once Elsa had gotten off the avenue, she had gone dark. _Probably isn't used to radio chatter; so far she's done every one of her missions alone._ So Recker won't let this slide. He would set this straight once she got back.

But now he began to worry about her. _Dear God, I hope Voronkov didn't capture her. _Not liking the radio silence one bit, Recker spoke again, "Alpha 1, this is Alpha 2, what's your status? Over."

More silence. Recker wondered if she had switched off her mic. _This is going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be..._ But Recker never thought too much about the difficulty of a mission. He acknowledged it, and he still carried out the mission, and that's what made him a great soldier. Personally, he relished challenges.

Irish broke the silence, "You think she forgot to switch on?"

"Doubt it. She should know well by now that we need to be in communication with her at all times," Recker responded by still stared at the camera feeds, even though Pac and Elsa weren't visible on them.

"It's okay Irish. We still have each other if Agent Winters goes dark. It's not like the buildings are interfering with the communications, right Recker?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. I think we'll just wait for now. I trust that since she's a CIA agent, she would at least have a reason to not be responding. I'll get this over to Garrison."

Switching comm channels, Recker said to his mic, "Fortress, this is Tombstone Two, do you copy? Over."

With a quick response from Garrison as usual, Recker heard the all too familiar voice of Captain Garrison, "_Tombstone Two, this is Fortress. Send traffic._"

"Fortress, we may have an issue on our hands. Our agent has gone offline and is unresponsive to radio checks. We are currently waiting for a response, over."

"_Roger that Tombstone. Send me further updates on the situation if it continues._"

"Copy that Fortress. Tombstone out," turning his attention back to the camera feeds, Recker said, "Well that was disappointing. I would expect Garrison to at least do something on his part."

Hannah responded, "Recker, he's almost 4,000 miles away from us. We're really on our own here." Recker always liked Hannah because she spoke with her head, and she always like to stay informed about things.

"Maybe we should go out and look for her," Irish suggested.

If they didn't have to keep their identities a secret to everyone around them, Recker would've sent out Irish and Hannah to look for Elsa, or would've told Pac to look for her after he was through protecting Olaf Nicholson. But seeing as he really didn't have full authority over the mission, Recker advised against it. "No, too risky. We could compromise our cover."

Just then, Recker heard a soft but stern voice on the other end, "_Alpha 2, this is Alpha 1, reporting in._"

Recker let out a sigh of relief. "Alpha 1, this is Alpha 2. Are you alright?"

"_Affirmative_."

Recker wanted to take advantage of the fact that Elsa finally responded, and asked, "Is Package Alpha secure?" Package Alpha was the chosen codename for Anna Nicholson.

"Copy that, package is secure. Heading back now. Alpha 2 out." All Recker could pick up from Elsa was that she was quick, brief, and sounded mildly pissed off, like he had interrupted something that was making her happy. _It's like she shows no emotions. I can see why her co-workers call her "The Ice Queen."_ Recker had found a file on the computer after Elsa and Pac left that contained a profile on the agent. Shocked that Elsa had a file on her computer, he had read through it briefly, and found the rather fitting nickname under "Other names." _Suits her well. Might as well give her ice powers or something._ Recker smirked at the idea.

Breaking from his thoughts, Recker heard Irish say, "About fuckin' time. I swear she's doing this shit on purpose." Recker balked at the thought of having another argument with Irish over this topic. But he got it, it was a touchy subject.

"She'll probably inform us about her radio silence when she gets back. We'll set this straight." As appointed squad leader of Tombstone, Recker always tried to lead with a sense of logic and direction.

Recker continued, "In the meantime, I think we should check up on Pac."

Hannah agreed, "Good idea."

* * *

><p>As Anna sat through another boring Monday lecture, she thought back to the woman she encountered earlier. Everything about her just produced this aura of grace and tactfulness. Flawlessness. <em>Huh, unlike me. I always screw up...<em> Anna quickly berated herself for the thought, thinking back to the many hours of therapy sessions.

Thinking back to the woman, Anna didn't have a doubt that she was extremely attractive. Her body was extremely small, and it wouldn't have surprised her if the woman was a model. Then Anna remembered that she didn't even get her name, or her phone number. _Dammit! Why do you always screw everything up Anna? Just why!_ Anna's mood took a turn for the worse as she sat there in the lecture hall, upset that she knew nothing about the woman.

But one last thing decided to hit her in the forehead, how quickly the woman had reacted to Anna tripping on the sidewalk. Even though she was right next to Anna when she fell (she was facing Anna's direction as she walked), she was surprisingly fast for someone who more than likely did NOT anticipate her tripping. _It's like she deliberately did something to trip me, or somehow knew something was going to happen and got ready for it. But hell, she didn't even put her newspaper down...UGH. This is confusing!_

As Anna continued to mentally torture herself, her friend right next to her, Rapunzel, noticed the agony on her face. Rapunzel whispered, "Is everything alright Anna?"

Rapunzel was one of the only friends that Anna maintained, and was practically the only one she fully trusted. Anna responded, "No, I'm not."

Rapunzel looked at her with concern, "What's the matter?"

Anna noticed some of the annoyed faces of her classmates as they tried to pay attention amongst Rapunzel and Anna's conversation, so she decided to wrap it up, "I'll tell you after class. Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

"You got it."

Anna knew Rapunzel was probably thinking that this was going to be something related to Anna's rape. I gotta get this off my chest somehow. I'll let Mom and Dad know as well.

Turning her attention back to her boring professor, Anna continued to think about the blonde woman, unaware of the woman's mission to protect Anna.

* * *

><p>As Elsa finally walked into the apartment about two minutes after Pac had walked in, she was immediately verbally insulted by Irish, "Where the hell have you been? You trying to compromise the mission or something?"<p>

Elsa shot him an annoyed look, "I was busy taking care of matters with Anna, calm down."

"So you _did_ compromise the mission, huh?" Irish was slowly walking up to Elsa.

"No! I did not, I-"

"Yes you did! You're hiding something!"

"STOP!" Recker's sudden outburst had Irish and Elsa quiet down instantly. "Irish, back off. Elsa, explain to us what happened."

Clearing her throat, Elsa said, "My apologies for keeping a prolonged radio silence. I would like to say that I did encounter Anna Nicholson but my cover is _not_ blown," shooting a look at Irish before continuing, "She just happened to trip and I managed to catch her. We did exchange a few sentences before she got on her way, and I followed her to the school."

"This was at the café?" Recker asked.

"Yes, it was. Anyways, I didn't share any personal details about myself, not even my name. All she knows is my face, and she might not even remember it by the end of the day."

"Sounds good enough, I suggest you go and visit Mr. Nicholson and talk to him about this, just in case you happen to make further contact with Anna or if she breaks the story to her parents."

"Good idea, I'll let you know when I'm coming back."

"Alright, we'll keep close tabs with you on the video feeds. We'll also notify Captain Garrison that you checked in."

Elsa spun around at the doorway, "You told Garrison that I was missing?"

"We couldn't just stand here and do nothing. Hell, Voronkov could've captured you, we were worried sick!"

Elsa hadn't thought about that, "Well, I guess I owe you an apology on that one. I'll see you guys in a bit."

As Elsa turned back to the doorway, she heard Irish call out, "Make sure to actually respond to radio calls this time," followed by Recker scolding him, "Shut up Irish, I need you on the video feeds." Elsa let out a small chuckle as she closed the door, wondering when Irish would finally use his head before speaking.

* * *

><p>"And this all happened this morning?" Edgar Nicholson was shocked at Elsa's story. He couldn't believe that the very first day of protection had already resulted in a near-compromise of Elsa's identity to his daughter.<p>

Elsa nodded. "The best thing is, she doesn't know anything about me. That's what matters at this point."

Elsa was sitting in front of Mr. Nicholson's rather large glass desk in his spacious office located on the top floor of his headquarters. Elsa had decided the best way for this to stay secret was to visit Mr. Nicholson himself in his office instead of having a phone call or talking over the radio. Mr. Nicholson was paranoid about Voronkov tapping into his calls and seeing if he was hiring military aid. But Elsa didn't mind. There was a really nice view of the Seine behind Mr. Nicholson's desk, which Elsa couldn't get over. She would do anything to have an office this nice and this big, but she had to make do with the low-end office she had back at Langley.

Edgar's face was clouded with concern and worry. "We might have to make some changes into how we're operating. I still don't want the kids to know about this, but, if you do encounter Anna later on and she asks for a name or a phone number, just give it to her. Otherwise, try to avoid it. We don't want to make it obvious that you're a protection agent and a spy."

Elsa felt like Mr. Nicholson was taking charge here. "Shouldn't we at least notify JSOC or Captain Garrison of our changes?"

"In all honesty, I'm trying to keep the number of people involved in this to a minimum. I know Tombstone Squad should be reporting to Captain Garrison, but really, that should only be in the case of an emergency. Really you and I should both be coordinating how this operation is conducted, not your superiors at the CIA or the guys at JSOC."

"Alright then, if you insist. I mean, I'm in charge of this operation, but I can't keep you from calling the shots when necessary." Elsa saw confidence wash over Mr. Nicholson's face, and he got more relaxed. She felt like Mr. Nicholson always wanted to be in authority, whether it was his area of operation or not.

"Good, then it's settled. On a side note, our driver that we hired is making a slow recovery, and won't be out of the hospital for the next few weeks. I've been considering hiring a new driver for now just to replace our old one until we get things settled with Medved, but I think there wouldn't be a purpose in having you. Plus, I need you to conduct intelligence on Voronkov, on the street and on his headquarters. I would like to have a night infiltration of his HQ by the end of this week."

"You got it, I'll keep in touch with you and send you further updates."

"Alright, thanks. Have a good day, and good luck out there."

"Thank you, you too."

* * *

><p><strong>Three hours later.<strong>

As Anna had walked out of the university, she met up with Rapunzel outside and they began to walk towards Anna's home.

"So, you said you were going to tell me your little story."

"Yeah! I was. Well, ok, I was walking to school this morning, and this was an hour before classes started. I was walking along one of the streets close to the university, and I was coming up on this café. And you won't believe who sat at one of the tables outside."

"If I won't believe it, you should convince me." Anna scoffed at Rapunzel's cheeky sarcasm.

"There was this woman, and she was periodically looking at me while I was walking towards the café. She was beautiful. She had this gorgeous long platinum blonde hair tied into a braid along her shoulder, this really small nose, small eyebrows, small ears, small mouth-"

Rapunzel interrupted, "Small everything?"

"Pretty much except for her eyes. Oh my God, her eyes were gorgeous. The color was icy blue. And going back to her body, she had this _extremely_ small frame, like me," pointing to her body so Rapunzel could get an idea of what the woman looked like.

"Alright, I get the picture. So what's the deal?"

"Well, when I passed her, I accidentally tripped over a bump in the sidewalk. The lady was reading a newspaper and sipping on a cup of coffee when it happened. But you won't believe what happened next. I never hit the ground when I fell. The woman...somehow...managed to catch me before I hit the ground on my back. I don't know how, she must've been quick or somehow managed to anticipate my fall."

"Maybe she's your personified guardian angel," Rapunzel suggested.

"Oh please Rapunzel! I was thinking more like she was looking out for me. But the thing is, we've never met before. Never seen her once in my life." To Rapunzel, it was evident that Anna was wrestling with this.

"Maybe you should talk to your parents about this, they might be able to help."

"Yeah, hopefully..."

Rounding a corner in the street, Anna spotted the café where she encountered the woman. "There! That's where I fell and also met that lady."

"This place? I used to come here all the time, never saw a lady matching the description you gave me. Maybe she's new here. If I were you, I'd try to find her and get to know her. Did she tell you anything when she caught you?"

"We exchanged a few sentences but we didn't give each other any personal information. On a side note, she looked to be around my age, maybe a little older. I was thinking she may be a model for a company based in this city."

"I wouldn't make assumptions, but with someone of that beauty, that might be a place to start. Look in magazines or something, maybe you'll find her in one."

"Thanks Rapunzel." Nearing an intersection in the road, Anna bid goodbye to Rapunzel, and with a hug, they both went their own way.

Within ten minutes, Anna was home. Her mom and dad weren't home from work, so she decided to make herself a quick lunch and start on her homework. _I'll talk to them about this when they both get here. Maybe they might know something..._ Setting down her backpack on one of the chairs surrounding the kitchen table, Anna opened up the pantry to find something to eat, unaware that the lady that was currently on her mind was cooperating with her parents to protect Anna and her family.

* * *

><p><strong>Seven hours later.<strong>

After explaining the story to her family at dinner, her father decided to have a private chat about it in Anna's room, because clearly, Anna was struggling with it.

"There is just no way to describe the lady's reflexes. It's like she prepared for me to fall, but the thing is, we've never met."

Her father tried to put her mind at ease, "Maybe she's someone who looks out for everyone. Maybe she's your guardian angel."

Anna rolled her eyes, "I'm already past you on that theory Dad, Rapunzel suggested it earlier."

Her father smiled, "Sounds like something that she would say," remembering the times when Anna invited Rapunzel over to dinner on some nights. The girl appeared intelligent to Edgar, and he had no problems with her being best friends with Anna.

"Well anyways, do you have any explanation for this Dad?"

"Quite frankly, I would agree with Rapunzel on the fact that maybe she's out watching your back, even though you two haven't met, taking into account the eye contact and the conversation she made with you."

"I guess you're right Dad. Thanks."

"No problem, anytime sweetheart."

After closing the door to Anna's room, Edgar let out a sigh. One thing he forgot to mention that morning with Agent Winters was why she had chosen to wait at a café along Anna's route to school. Even though Edgar had chosen the safest route for Anna to go on, and told her specifically not to stray from it, Elsa could've missed the opportunity to follow Anna after Anna passed her.

After returning to his office, Edgar resolved to tell Agent Winters in the morning to start following Anna as soon as she left the house. Personally, he regretted having told Elsa that she could have unrestricted contact and information disclosure with Anna, situation permitting. But he decided to let it slide. There were too many bigger things to worry about than how his daughter and a CIA agent interacted.

Turning his attention back to his desktop, Edgar began to sort through his e-mail, wondering how tomorrow would go between Agent Winters and his daughter.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And that's that for Chapter 4! I do have plenty of ideas for how Anna and Elsa are going to interact, but some Elsanna fluff/smut might not show up until later chapters. (When I mean late, I mean LATE) Anyways, my apologies for how late this update was compared to my back-to-back updates with the first three chapters. And I would like to apologize for how much this chapter jumps around points-of-view and the time of day.**

**Like I said earlier, once school starts, there's no telling when I will be able to update. (If I have the motivation to do so) By the way, I'm doing this solo, all the editing, the cover picture, and the writing is on all on me. Mind the spelling and grammar errors, please. Also, sorry about the lack of action in this chapter. Hoping for next chapter to be better since Anna and Elsa will *hopefully* interact again. But how? :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Discoveries

**A/N: Chapter title says it all! Two people make discoveries in this chapter, read on to find out!**

* * *

><p>Crisp and cold autumn air greeted Anna as she walked out the front door of the large mansion in which she lived in. She dressed accordingly for the weather, wearing a large black coat, a red and blue scarf, a gray beanie, jeans, and Uggs. She slightly squinted her teal eyes in an attempt to block out the air rushing at her eyes.<p>

Anna decided to leave a little earlier than yesterday, telling her parents that she wanted a little time to study in the library before school started. Even though she didn't have any quizzes or tests today, it seemed like a lame excuse to leave early. But Anna had no problem waking up that morning, feeling so energized that she could've ran a mile and not be tired. It confused her parents, since she wasn't a morning person. But what really motivated Anna to get out of bed that morning was the slim ray of hope that she would again encounter the mysterious blonde at the café again. _Just maybe..._ Anna thought as she quickened her pace down the street.

As Anna continued to walk towards the café where she met the blonde woman, she replayed yesterday's events in her head. The first eye contact, the fall, the catch, the conversation. One thing Anna couldn't get out of her head was the woman's voice. _She had to have been a singer at one point in her life. Wait, her accent. It was American. Yeah, American. Guess she's not from around here. Huh._

Within the next five minutes, Anna was on the street in which the café was situated on. On further approach, the outside tables of the café were empty, much to Anna's dismay. It wasn't something she anticipated, for Anna wanted, even expected to see the blonde sitting at one of the tables outside the café. _Well, that was kind of stupid to expect something like that. Maybe yesterday was one of those days where she decided to eat at a café. Maybe she likes to eat at home. Or maybe she moved back to America. Oh well, I guess waking up early and looking extra nice wasn't worth the effort..._

Anna was more than disappointed. She had looked forward to hopefully seeing the woman again, because right now, she actually craved seeing the blonde. It was weird, craving someone she had just met. Anna felt naive, since the last time she craved someone, it eventually ended up in her getting raped. She shuddered at the thought, but the woman Anna met didn't seem to be capable of such a feat, let alone have the motivation to do something like that to Anna.

Anna decided to fix up her feelings with a cup of coffee from the café, since now the feeling of exhaustion was coming over her, a punishment for waking up early from a small amount of sleep, which resulted from her tossing and turning in bed for several hours just thinking about the woman. And that's when it hit her. Anna realized she may be lesbian. Could it be that she was raped? That she lost trust in men and trusted women more? Or was it just the woman's traits?

Anna kept turning over the thought of being a lesbian as she waited in the small line before the ordering counter. After grabbing a caffè americano, she walked out of the café and took in a view of the street around her. Looking to her right then left, she saw something that made her heart race. Down the street hidden behind a few pedestrians, Anna spotted the woman. She had her gaze down, but eventually looked up, her eyes meeting Anna's. Anna couldn't believe her luck.

The woman was walking up the street towards Anna, and Anna decided to wait for her to pass by. Anna so badly wanted to talk to the lady, but she didn't know what to say. _Oh God, I hope I don't scare her off with my awkwardness. Keep cool Anna, keep cool. You can do this._

Seconds seemingly turned into hours waiting for the woman to pass by. She walked casually, like she wasn't in any hurry, but eventually, Anna flagged her down, and the woman stopped in front of Anna.

The only word that could escape Anna's mouth was a small "hi," which the woman quickly replied with the same word, only with a chuckle. Anna's heart couldn't stop racing.

The woman almost looked the same as she did yesterday, only this time she had a little bit more makeup on, and her hair was in a French braided crown twist bun, something Anna was surprised to recognize. It looked like she was about to attend a formal meeting or something.

Anna felt subdued by the woman's looks, and she proceeded awkwardly into conversation with the sheer goddess in front of her.

"I met you yesterday, am I right?"

"Of course, I remember. You tripped and fell at this café, and I caught you." Anna blushed slightly at the thought of her falling. _What a fantastic first impression. It must've been bad for this lady to remember me by such an event. Fuck. Thanks for screwing up Anna._

"Yeah, I remember. Sorry about that." Anna looked down at the ground, not really knowing what to do next.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You tripped, I'm sure everyone does that at least once in their lifetime anyways." The words brought comfort to Anna.

The woman continued, "Well listen, I have somewhere to get to. I'm making an alum visit to one of my former professors at the University of Paris, and I don't want to be late."

Anna's eyes immediately lit up, "Wait! I'm actually heading there right now. I'm a student at the university, and I have a class there in about an hour from now. So you don't mind if we can walk together up there?"

"Sure, sounds good to me."

Anna couldn't believe her luck. First, it was getting to meet this lady for the second time, now she got the chance to get to know her. _It's like a dream come true._

As they began walking up the street, Anna started up the conversation, "You know, I didn't get to catch your name yesterday when I met you."

The woman promptly responded, "Oh, I didn't even mention it. We didn't even properly introduce ourselves. Well, my name's Elsa. You?"

"Anna." _Elsa, such a fitting name. This woman is so perfect, like an angel._

"It's nice to meet you Anna."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Elsa."

Taking a sip from her coffee, Anna said, "You mentioned you were going to visit a former professor at U of P. What's his name?"

"To be honest, I never got his name. He wasn't really my professor but he helped tutor me when I needed the help. All I know is that he works in the history department. Hopefully, he's still there."

"When did you graduate?"

"Last year." Anna was shocked. She had never seen this woman before anywhere on campus. But there were thousands of students attending school there, so she let the thought go.

Shifting gears, Anna decided to go on a more personal level, "So, where're you from?"

"Los Angeles. You?"

"Same here!" Anna beamed. This conversation couldn't go anymore perfect than where it was going. She had a lot more in common with Elsa than she thought.

And just when Anna was about to ask Elsa another question, Elsa's phone rang, and she quickly told Anna "Hold on" as she answered it.

"Hello? Yes, this is Elsa...uh huh, yes, it's getting done, don't worry...ok, bye."

"You wouldn't mind me asking who that was?" Anna's curiosity got the better of her. Elsa's phone's volume was turned up just loud enough for Anna to hear the other end. The person Elsa was talking to sounded a little familiar, but Anna couldn't pinpoint it.

"Oh, it was nothing. Just someone I'm supposed to be doing a favor for."

"Oh, ok."

And with that, both of them rounded a corner in the road and found the university in front of them.

As they both crossed the street to the front of the university, they both bid their farewells.

"Well Anna, it was nice meeting you."

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well."

"Indeed. Good luck with your studies," Elsa said with a smile.

"Thank you! Have a nice day!"

"You too!"

After climbing up the steps to the front door, Anna immediately turned around and said, "Wait, one more thing Elsa."

"Yes?"

"You don't mind if I take down your phone number, do you?"

Elsa pondered this for a moment before saying yes. Anna then pulled out her phone and asked Elsa for her number. Elsa then gave her number and after she was done, Anna put her phone and smiled.

"Thanks. I hope we get to know each other a little more later on."

"Looking forward to it."

"Well, I have to go. See you around!"

Anna then headed off in the direction of the library, while Elsa went to the history department offices, in which when she was out of sight from Anna, she immediately turned around and exited the building. As she did, she breathed out a sigh of relief and worry. As an undercover CIA agent, she knew she revealed WAY too much information about herself, but then again, she balanced it out with a bunch of lies. But she knew she was going to get it from her superiors if they ever found out Elsa gave Anna her personal cell phone number.

As Elsa made her way back to the apartment, Anna sat in the University of Paris library, unable to do anything, as all that was on her mind was Elsa. Finally happy in getting to know her and obtaining a way in which to communicate with her, she sat in the almost empty library, thinking of the many possibilities in which this relationship could develop into. She decided to text her friend Rapunzel, and tell her of the morning's events.

* * *

><p><em>"Dima, I need you to report to the observations room in the armory, now."<em>

"What for?"

_"It's important. Anatoly's orders."_

"Alright, I'll be down there."

Dima was patrolling one of the upper floors of the Medved headquarters, and after talking with Kiril over the mic, he headed toward the stairwell that lead down to the armory. He felt a little uneasy about the sudden transmission from Kiril, considering the fact that Dima was on patrol on Anatoly's orders, and now he was summoned to the armory. The last thing Dima wanted was to get on bad terms with Anatoly.

After stepping down into the armory and heading into the observations room, Dima found Vladimir, Kiril, Anatoly, a couple of bodyguards posted by the door, and a technologist named Fyodor tapping some commands into a monitor. He had headphones on and seemed to be listening to something.

Dima was the first to speak, "What's going on?" After capturing the attention of everyone in the room, Kiril said, "Come here and listen to this."

Dima walked over to Nikolai and he handed Dima his headphones. Nikolai hit a button on his keyboard and a conversation began to play.

_"Fortress, this is Tombstone Two, do you copy? Over."_

_"Tombstone Two, this is Fortress. Send traffic."_

_"Fortress, we may have an issue on our hands. Our agent has gone offline and is unresponsive to radio checks. We are currently waiting for a response, over."_

_"Roger that Tombstone. Send me further updates on the situation if it continues."_

_"Copy that Fortress. Tombstone out."_

And at that the conversation ended. Dima was confused, "What was that?" Both speakers had American accents, and he wasn't quite sure where this was leading to. And he shuddered to think what Voronkov might tell him.

Voronkov took the response, "We believe it to be a transmission between American spies and their handlers."

"How did you find this?"

"Well, ever since you and your squad arrived here, we tapped into all communications in and around Nicholson International's headquarters for as far as 800 meters. This burst transmission was intercepted, and you won't believe how close the American spies are to us. Show them Nikolai."

With a few taps onto the keyboard in front of him, Nikolai pulled up a SAT image of the avenue in which both headquarters were located. He zoomed in on a building right next to the Nicholson building.

"This is where we traced the transmission. We've been monitoring activity on this building for the past two days. The good news is, we've managed to trace the recipient of the transmission to an aircraft carrier off the French coast called the USS Valkyrie. It's possible that the spies may be American Marines, but we don't know yet."

Still slightly confused, Dima asked, "So, what does this mean?"

"Once we get all the right evidence, we can show the world that the Americans are aggressing us, and quite possibly coerce Mr. Nicholson into giving up his oil fields to my corporation. Obviously, this will benefit Russia in many ways, one in which we can provide much needed fuel to the army."

That's when Dima got scared, "For what purpose?"

"Well, you know how the Americans like to act as international policemen. Always trying to solve the world's problems. I'm tired of it. The days in which Russia was feared are over. One of my dreams would be to see Russia restored to her glory and might, like in the Soviet era. We can maybe get allies on our side, considering the fact the Americans are the aggressors at this point."

Dima was dumbfounded, "You really think the Russian president will believe a burst transmission is grounds for a full-scale conflict?"

"No, but if the president needs a little shoving, then I have an alternate plan."

Voronkov then walked over to a box and took off the top, revealing a small bomb. "This my friend, is an American-made bomb. It has fingerprints on it, and they match up with American factory workers. All we have to do, is detonate this bomb in front of this building, get UN investigators to inspect the damage, and when they find out who planted the bomb, all of Russia will cry for war."

Dima couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all the efforts of his squadmates to stop the Paris nuke several years ago, AND the efforts of Sgt. Blackburn in stopping the Times Square nuke, he couldn't believe that this man was willing to instigate a war for his gain. He knew that Voronkov's company would benefit from the oilfields acquired from the American defeat. And he knew that the Russian president would launch a full-scale surprise attack on the US, and he knew they would lose. The only option the US would revert to would be nuclear warfare.

Dima finally vocalized his thoughts, "It sounds crazy. You know the Americans are going to use their nukes if it means Russia's destruction, right?"

"Then we'll use ours. I've heard there's been work on getting Russia a better anti-missile defense system."

Dima looked at his squadmates, hoping for their support in getting this man to realize he was crazy. All they gave him were looks of confusion.

Voronkov then walked over to Dima and put his hand on Dima's shoulder, "Don't you want to see Russia regain its status as a glorious country? Haven't you always wanted to serve Russia?"

"Yes, but-"

"But? Dima, I know you're patriotic. There's no doubt about it. Are you trying to be sympathetic towards the Americans?"

"No," Dima said, "I just don't want to see millions die for something that can be peacefully achieved."

"Like how? Talks? Negotiations? I'm tired of those. They never work and only seem to silence people's mouths, only for them to opened in a more voracious manner."

Voronkov was looking Dima straight in the eye. All of a sudden, Dima realized what he needed to do. This man had to die. And he decided to think ahead for the moment, finally coming up with a plan.

"Alright then. But I suggest we wait and monitor the Americans' activity."

"Ok, I'll take your advice. It's good to see you see what I see. And that my friend, is profit. I promise to give you a share of it when this is all over, as a reward for your cooperation."

Before heading out the door, Voronkov turned to Dima, "By the way, I'm bringing in more bodyguards and mercenaries to protect this building, just in case the Americans try something."

And with that, Voronkov left the room with Nikolai and his bodyguards, leaving Dima alone with his squadmates.

Dima was infuriated, "I can't believe you guys didn't speak up against him!"

Kiril looked at Vladimir, in which Vladimir gave him a nod, "Dima, we didn't do anything because we knew Anatoly would pick up on it and think we're against him. We know the plan is crazy and right now, there's really nothing we can do. I'm sure Anatoly would send people to kill us if we ever revealed his plans to the world. But right now, Vladimir and I are thinking we should find a way to contact the American spies and work with them to take down Anatoly. They're our key to telling the world about Anatoly, without the risk of us getting killed."

"I was thinking the same thing as well. But you know we can't just walk out of here and go talk to them."

"That's the issue, but we'll figure out a way to contact them. Right now, let's just follow Anatoly's orders."

"But-"

Vladimir interrupted, "Dima, I know it's hard. But this is the best way to protect the world at this point. We should probably keep low."

Dima sighed, "Alright then."

Vladimir continued, "In the meantime, here's the plan..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Cliffhanger! Well not really, since I won't be picking up at this point next chapter. Next chapter will pick up three days after the events of this one. Trust me, what I have planned will be interesting. :) (Hint: A reunion takes place between two friends. I wonder who?) Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Alliance

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while (school is a priority). This is one of the longer chapters and was a little tough to crank out. This chapter will start off with something in the future, and will backtrack to the present after a cliffhanger. Well anyways, I'll spare you the usual long author note. Without further ado, here's Chapter 6!**

* * *

><p>As Elsa sipped on a glass of wine, she took a look around her, finally taking in the whole of the small café she was dining at. Even though she was sitting in the back of the restaurant, Elsa still had quite a view, and she was even able to see out the windows. It was 5:30, and the sun was beginning to set, and she thought this was a rather early time to be having dinner, especially in Europe. But she couldn't resist an invitation to an early dinner from Anna, who was sitting right across from her.<p>

Elsa's attention then turned back to Anna, who all of a sudden noticed Elsa staring at her. The small shock made Elsa giggle.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry," Elsa apologized.

"No! No, it's fine. My mind was just...wandering..."

"About...?"

"Random things. Sometimes, thoughts just pop into my head out of nowhere for no reason. You ever get that feeling?"

"All the time," Elsa agreed.

After a few moments of silence, Anna asked out of blind curiosity, "Who was that person who called you on the phone?"

"What person?"

"You know, the one on Tuesday."

Elsa shrugged, "Someone who's very keen on tasks getting done on time. A micromanager, in short." Elsa decided not to lie to Anna. Lying to her only made Elsa feel bad, and sooner or later, Anna would find out that Elsa is a close protection agent for Anna and her family. The person who called her happened to be Anna's father, and it confused her as to why he would call her personal phone. Yes, she had given it to him. But didn't he know well enough that she was on a mission? She had reported to him that morning, so she didn't know what the problem was. Elsa never got back to him on that note. She was clearly mad about it but kept it to herself.

Elsa continued, "Since you seem to be very curious about my life, it only seems fair that you tell me a little about yourself."

As Elsa took another sip of her drink, Anna began, "Well, any specifics?"

"What do your parents do?"

"Well, I think you know who my dad is by now. He's the founder and CEO of Nicholson International, an oil company, and my mother is a stay-at-home. Recently, I've been pretty worried about my family's safety since this rival oil company is competing with the oil fields that my dad owns, and they look serious on getting those fields."

"You think they might be lethal force to get them?"

Anna's eyes widened at the idea, "My God, I never thought about that. Personally I don't think so. But I know my dad's doing his best to keep the tensions down."

"He seems like a capable man."

"You've met him before?"

"No, no. I've seen him on the news though." Elsa winced at the lie.

"Oh, ok." Anna took a sip from her water. After finishing, she looked at Elsa, who smiled back. Anna just couldn't get over how good-looking Elsa was, and wondered if she had a love interest.

Silence overtook them as Anna looked at Elsa as she listened to the noise of the restaurant. Elsa looked around once again, not forgetting that her mission was to protect the woman in front of her. As Elsa then asked Anna another question, four men had entered the restaurant. Each of them scanned the restaurant until they found their target, in which all of them drew a suppressed MP443 Grach and took aim at their targets, not even caring to look at the shocked people suddenly breaking into screams at the armed men.

* * *

><p><strong>17 hours earlier.<strong>

"Tombstone squad, gather around." Elsa's commanding yet passive voice called Tombstone over to a table in Elsa's apartment. She had called all of them for a briefing on their next assignment, which would be in half an hour.

Pulling out a detailed map of the interior of Medved headquarters and laying it on the table, Elsa began, "Alright. I know this specific assignment is long overdue, but I need someone to infiltrate the Medved headquarters and grab intel from Voronkov's office. We need to know what he might be planning."

"Who you planning on sending?" Irish asked.

"Just one person. We can't have that many people infiltrating the building at one time. To me, it sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"One person? Aren't there guards there at night?"

"Yes, and that's exactly the reason why I only want one person in there."

"What if they get captured?"

"That person should be wearing a tracker and should also be in communication with us, so I don't see how this can be a problem. You can keep overwatch from a nearby building if it makes you feel better."

Elsa continued, "Anyways, I've selected Recker for this mission. I've felt he's the most qualified for this and I doubt you'll have problems."

Irish's face grew angry but kept silent after Hannah gave him a look, and Recker asked, "Ok then, if it's me, what do I need to know?"

"You'll be entering the building through a restroom window at the back. You'll then proceed to find a stairwell and go up four floors and find Mr. Voronkov's office. There, I want you to gather intel on Voronkov's activity. It can be anything, going on his computer, looking at papers, going through filing cabinets, whatever looks like it contains something valuable. Then get the hell out of there."

"ROE?" Recker was asking about rules of engagement. He knew if he killed any of Voronkov's guards, they could possibly be Russian soldiers or spec ops and would be grounds for war.

"Maintain stealth all the way through. If you absolutely have to kill someone, make sure to hide the body. I'm only sending you in with a suppressed pistol, I don't need anyone spotting you and calling your presence an act of aggression."

"Alright, when do I go?"

"I want you suited up and ready to go in twenty mikes, and at the HQ ready to infiltrate in thirty. You got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, let's get it done."

* * *

><p>"Alpha 1, this is Alpha 2, I'm in position at the front door." Recker kept his voice down to not attract attention. Even though it was late at night, there were still a few people walking around the streets, and Recker didn't want anybody to discover his position in a dark alleyway.<p>

_"Copy that Alpha 2. You are clear to knock." _Elsa's voice came in, the usual monotone and seriousness was evident. But at this moment, Recker didn't care.

What Recker did care about was having to sneak past the two guards posted in the back of the Medved building guarding the back entrance. Even though he wasn't going through that way, the alleyway that ran behind the Medved building also led to the entrance that Recker would go through, a bathroom with a window literally at street level.

Carefully, Recker made his way through the alley, making sure to not make a single sound. As he approached the back door of the building, Recker had an idea. He found an empty wine bottle, and threw it far behind him, but close enough to where the guards would hear. Sure enough, both men fell for it, and they went to investigate where the sound came from. Recker then made a break for it, and made his way over to the restroom window.

Quickly whipping out a crowbar that Agent Winters happened to have handy, Recker busted the window lock and pried it open in a matter of seconds. Squeezing through the tight opening, Recker managed to get in one of the stalls and closed the window behind him, just in time to hear the guards returning to their post.

Still keeping his tone to a whisper, Recker said, "Alpha 1, I'm inside the building, do you copy? Over."

_"Copy 1-2. We have you up on the tracker now. Exit the bathroom and make a left at the end of the corridor. Then make another left, there should be a stairwell in front of you."_

"Copy that Actual. Proceeding to stairwell."

After exiting the restroom as quietly as possible, Recker was greeted by darkness. There were only a few dim lights that were on, but for the most part, the building was dark and quiet, and it kind of creeped out Recker. Holding out his suppressed M9 in front of him, Recker made his way to the end of the corridor. Just as he was about to round the corner, he saw a bright beam slowly coming towards him, and voices. Recker quickly ducked into an alcove to his right just as two guards passed by him, with flashlights searching the corridors and offices. They both were speaking Russian, and were wielding what Recker identified as AN-94s. And that only meant one thing. _Russian mercenaries or spec ops?_

Recker waited until the guards were out of earshot, then said, "Winters, I've identified what could possibly be Russian spec ops, over."

_"Copy that 1-2, do you have proof of this?"_

"The guards seem to be equipped with high-powered assault rifles that are distributed only to MIA, FSB, and Russian military forces. Do you copy?"

_"Solid copy. Proceed with caution 1-2."_

"Roger that." Recker checked around the corner to see if any more guards were approaching, then silently began to move towards the stairwell, with his M9 in one hand and a knife in the other.

Recker looked in all directions as he slowly ascended the stairwell. Moonlight shone in through the windows like sunlight through clouds. Even though they were probably more guards stationed throughout the building, Recker noticed it was eerily quiet. Too quiet.

Finally reaching the fourth floor, Recker whispered, "1-1, I'm on the fourth floor."

_"Walk forward and then hang a right. A few more paces and then another right and you should be right in front of Voronkov's office."_

"Copy that."

After closely following Elsa's instructions, Recker made his way to Voronkov's personal office. When he reached it, he was surprised to find the door unlocked. While opening it, the door let out a small squeaking noise. Recker immediately stopped opening it and turned around, pistol in hand. After a few seconds of silence, Recker proceeded to open the door, despite the sounds it made. What Recker saw next had him standing in amazement.

The office was something to be envied. Glass walls lined the back, while a mini-aquarium stood at the left wall. Bookshelves housing many works sat on the right wall, along with filing cabinets. In the center was a large wooden desk, delicately fashioned to showcase multiple intricate designs all over the desk. Sitting on top of it was a pile of paperwork, books, binders, and triple monitors. _God I wish I had something like this._

A sudden voice from behind made Recker's face go white and freeze on the spot, "Don't do anything stupid." Recker noticed that the voice sounded familiar, a heavy Russian accent on otherwise perfect English. He was also shocked that the person behind him decided to pick English as the language in which to approach Recker with, instead of French, or Russian...

Not daring to turn around, Recker didn't say a word as the person slowly approached Recker from behind, closing the door while he was at it. The mysterious person then knocked the gun out of Recker's hands and spun him around. What Recker saw next surprised even more than the luxurious office he was standing in.

"Dima?"

"Recker?"

"Holy shit, I thought you were dead buddy!" Recker stretched out his arms and gave Dima a hug after Dima lowered his MP443.

After breaking from their brief embrace, Dima said, "I thought I was too. But you would be surprised at what one man can do alone."

Recker had so many questions, but the only one that could come out was, "How did you get out alive? Tell me."

"Now is not the time. What are you doing here in the first place?"

Recker hesitated, "Can I trust you?"

"Remember what I said? You have no reason to trust me, but there is a limit to what one man can do alone."

"And what could that be?"

"First, you need to tell me why you're here."

Again, Recker hesitated, but then realized he could trust Dima. This man helped him to escape from a Chinese prison, and could have shot him when he no longer needed Recker, or the other two people with him, Irish and Hannah. "I was sent here to gather intel on Voronkov."

"Do you have a hideout?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Recker paused for a moment, then said, "Down the street from here, to the east."

"Take me there. What needs to be said right now can't be said here, it's too dangerous."

"Alright then, follow me."

Opening the door slowly and checking the hallway for guards-which there were none-Recker led Dima over to the staircase, making sure to keep low and stay quiet.

After reaching the staircase and heading down, Recker said, "Alpha 1, I have the intel. Moving out of the building right now."

_"Copy that 1-2."_

After reaching the bottom of the stairs, Recker started to head to the restroom where he came in. But Dima stopped him and asked, "Where are you going?"

"The restrooms on this floor, why?"

"Your exit plan involves leaving through there?"

"Yup, what's the problem?"

"I know a better way out. Follow me."

Dima took the lead as they took a left at a junction between offices. After briefly hiding from the same two patrolling guards that Recker encountered earlier, Dima took Recker to a specific office. After scanning a keycard and gaining access to the office, Dima went to the back of the office and said, "Recker, help me move this cabinet."

Both of them pushed a cabinet behind the desk sitting in the center of the room, revealing a small hatch. Dima opened it up and revealed a lit, underground tunnel.

"It leads to a sewer, which can we can take to avoid the guards and reemerge at the surface."

"Sounds fair enough. After you."

Both men had to crouch to be able to fit in the tunnel. After closing the hatch, Recker followed Dima for about fifty feet until reaching the sewers. Both of them dropped down to a ledge and went for about another fifty feet before coming to a ladder.

"This should take us to a safe spot where no one will be able to see us."

Going up first, Dima climbed the ladder and opened the manhole. Recker followed suit and both of them had come up behind a few buildings off to the side of the Medved building.

"How'd you know about this tunnel?"

"Anatoly had that small tunnel built and connected to the sewers as an escape route just in case any intruders happened to overpower his security detail."

Recker took note of that, something that could be used as evidence that Voronkov was preparing for the worst, that being in the event American troops showed up at his doorstep.

"Alright, so where is your hideout?"

"Follow me."

Recker went through an alleyway back onto the avenue, but not before putting away his gun. Recker and Dima hurried through the avenue, in the hopes of not being seen by Voronkov's men.

Once Recker arrived at the apartment building where the hideout was, he led Dima up to the floor where his squad was. Opening the door to Elsa's apartment, Recker led Dima in, and instantly, he remembered that he forgot to tell Elsa and the others about Dima, for they all grabbed the nearest gun and pointed it at him. Dima's hands shot up.

"Who are you? Identify yourself," Elsa said coldly.

"A friend, I know Recker and that man over there," gesturing towards Irish.

"Irish, you remember this guy? He helped us escape from the prison. Hannah, you should know him as well. His name's Dima."

Slowly lowering her pistol, Hannah said, "That's right. You're the Russian man we escaped with. But I thought you were dead?"

"It can all be explained later. Right now, all of you need to lower your weapons, I won't harm anyone here. I'm here to help, but I can't do any of that with pistols pointed at me."

Recker spoke up, "Guys, it's ok. He can be trusted. He can provide intel that we need."

Slowly, Irish, Pac, and Elsa lowered their guns and set them off to the side. Elsa spoke first, "Is he the intel you were talking about? What about the materials from Voronkov's office?"

"I didn't get anything from Voronkov's office, I was thinking that Dima would be our source for information."

"Alright then, "Dima," what information do you have for us?"

"First, sit down, relax." Dima gestured them to some seats and a sofa in a corner of the apartment. After getting everyone to sit down except for Recker, Dima began, "I would just like to say that I am against Voronkov. What I am about to tell you will be an explanation of that."

"I don't know what intel you have at this point about Voronkov or his security detail, but I can tell you that's he hired GRU operatives, such as myself, and soldiers from the Russian army and special forces."

Elsa said, "Well then that confirms our suspicions. Anything else?"

"He knows that there are American operatives here, in this location." The news stunned everyone, including Elsa. None of them had been expecting this bit of information, and it took them a few moments to recover from the news.

Irish asked, "How does he know?"

"Voronkov has technicians monitoring international radio traffic within an 800 meter radius. When Recker contacted his superior a few days ago, they honed in on this location." Irish remembered what this was and shot Elsa an angry look, only for it to be reciprocated.

Dima continued, "Since Anatoly knows this, he plans to use your presence to coerce the Russian president into declaring war on the United States."

Recker knew about the constant news reports on US-Russian relations. They weren't good at the moment, and some even called the tensions between the two countries "higher than those of the Cold War." All Voronkov needed was a spark, and that spark may have already been lit in his eyes.

Elsa said, "When does he plan on meeting with the president?"

"Next week at the latest. Can't give you an exact date. I highly recommend contacting your superiors and bring this to light."

"Bring what to light?" Irish asked.

"Voronkov has made plans to detonate a stolen American bomb at the front door of his building a few days from now. He plans to get UN investigators to look into the 'bombing.' Once they find out it's an American bomb, he will have all he needs to declare war on the United States."

Elsa spoke up, clearly confused, "You know that's suicide right? A war between the US and Russia could easily escalate into nuclear confrontation. Voronkov should know that."

"That's why we need to make his plans public. But I need your help. I need to return back to the building right now, so take this radio to keep in contact with me. I'll try my best to collect more intel-"

Elsa interrupted, "You know what? I think we need to pull out of the city. It's too dangerous for us to be here and our location is compromised. Recker, contact Garrison and tell him we need evac to come pick us up tomorrow evening at Charles de Gaulle."

"Yes ma'am, I'll take care of that right now." Recker went into a separate room to talk to Garrison.

"Irish, Pac. When our transport is nearing the city, the Nicholsons will need to come with us. The whole family."

Turning to Hannah, Elsa said, "I need you to be disposing of all of this computer junk. Pile it all into one area and smash the computers to where they won't work anymore. Shred all of the papers in here. There's a paper shredder underneath that table over there," gesturing towards a table by the door. "Can I count on you to get this done tomorrow?"

"Yup, no problem."

Turning to Dima, Elsa asked, "Would you like to come with us? If Voronkov knows you collaborated with us, he might hunt you down and kill you."

"Just let me know when you're leaving. I also have a few collaborators of my own. They hold the same viewpoint as me, and they can be trusted."

"Alright then, it's decided. I think we should all get some rest tonight, and thank you Dima."

"No, thank you. I wish you all good luck tomorrow."

At that point, Recker came out of the room he was in and said, "Ok, Garrison said transport will be coming tomorrow at seven o'clock in the evening. We have until then to trash the evidence of us being here and get the Nicholsons, and Dima and his squad, out of here."

Elsa said, "Fair enough. Good luck Dima."

And with that, Dima left the apartment, as well as the others to turn in for the night. But unbeknownst to them, all of them were completely unaware of what was to come, because nothing ever goes as planned.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I wonder what will screw up their plans? Well, we'll see when I get the next chapter up and running. This one felt like a longer one and to be honest, this took a lot longer to crank out because 1) school and 2) there are points in stories where it's hard to come up with something that sounds right. At a few points in this chapter, the dialogue was a bit tough to write, even considering the fact that I can go play Battlefield 4 single-player campaign or watch Frozen to remind myself of the characters' personalities and what they might say in a certain situation. **

**Either way, this has been a blast to write, even though this hasn't been getting much attention from the community. I'm guessing there aren't that many people who would think of combining an M-rated violent action video game with a kid's movie. But hey, it's creativity! Anyways, I have some ideas for the next few chapters, which are going to be hectic (climax will either be in next chapter or after). I may be rushing this story a little bit too fast than it should be going at, but I didn't plan on writing a long story (15+ chapters). **

**As always, please leave a review, or follow/fav the story if you'd like. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7: The Confrontation

**A/N: My apologies for not updating for almost two weeks! School is a priority (I'm sure it's everyone's at this point). And with that, I prefer to write a whole chapter in one sitting. Anyways, the chapter name should hint at what the content is going to be, so I hope you enjoy it!**

**On a side note, thank you to all those who have favorited, followed, or left a review on this story. It means a lot to me as a writer, because even though this story is a bit badly written (in my opinion), it's nice to see there are a few people out there that are waiting for another chapter update immediately after reading the most recent one. I would just like to say thank you for your support! Anywho, I won't hold you up any longer. Enjoy!**

**By the way, if you want to know which point in time this "takes place," it's mid-September, 2020.**

* * *

><p>"So what, you're just going to leave us here?"<p>

"Yes."

"Extract is in a few hours. You know that right?"

"I'm completely aware of that, Irish."

"Why are you even doing this?"

"Because I've already made arrangements."

"So what happens if you get distracted? What happens if the cooks take too long to prepare your food? What happens if Voronkov sends his guys to kill you?"

"I'll be fine, Irish. I'll keep track of time, and I'll get here thirty minutes before we leave. I trust that you and the rest of Tombstone will get this place straightened out?"

"You didn't answer my question about Voronkov's men..."

"Why do you think I'm taking a gun with me?"

If there was one thing Elsa was going to swear to herself once she was done with this mission, was to never, ever work in a joint operation with any other US military branch. Irish was the primary reason. Elsa had just received a text from Anna asking Elsa if she wanted to go out to a late night dinner. Elsa replied "yes" but wanted to push up the time, so they both agreed to meet at a popular local restaurant just down the street at 5:30. Elsa had quickly found herself enjoying her time with Anna. Throughout the week, she and Anna had grown to be best friends, much to the surprise of Elsa. Their friendship felt like lock and key, perfect for each other.

On the other hand, she had to deal with Irish whenever she would go out to dinner with Anna. It had become a regular thing now, but the rest of Tombstone felt as if she was more than friends with Anna. At this point, she didn't care much.

"Irish, come on now!" Pac had been standing off to the side, just watching the whole spectacle. Recker and Hannah were sleeping in their apartments, resting up before they left Paris.

"This is bullshit."

"Irish, we'll be leaving in a few hours. We gotta start working on this place."

It took Irish a few moments and a glare at Elsa to finally comply with Pac. After that, Elsa slipped on a pair of sneakers and headed out the door, with final check that her suppressed M9 was tucked away out of sight.

After exiting the door, Elsa texted Anna that she was on her way. Anna replied that she already had a table picked out in the back of the restaurant. Elsa was kind of disappointed, mainly because the weather had heated up a little bit to a cool 75 degrees. But she was also a little upset because she wouldn't be able to watch the activity on the street, if Anna had chosen a table outside.

As Elsa was walking down the street, she got the usual quick glances from the pedestrians. As always, Elsa felt as if she was the center of envy of all the women walking about on the street. Elsa had decided to play it casual, sporting a white tee, dark jeans, and white Converse shoes. Since it was still a little chilly outside, Elsa put on a navy cardigan and a blue scarf. She also decided to bring along a black cross-body purse, mainly to store her gun in there, just in case anything happened.

As Elsa kept walking and attempted to ignore envious, or lustrous, stares from nearby pedestrians, she thought back to when she first walked on the Parisian streets. She always feared for her life, not just from Voronkov's men, but out of fear that someone would follow her back to the apartment building and attempt to rape her. But she carried a gun for a reason, regardless of where she went, so the fear eventually dashed away.

Finally, Elsa was at the doors of the cafe, and told the host that she was with a party. The host let her in the restaurant and Elsa looked around for a bit before spotting Anna, who was waving a hand in the air to signal where she was.

Once Elsa finally sat down at the table, Anna was ecstatic to see her. "Hey, how're you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Have you ordered anything yet?"

"I ordered both of us some water, if that isn't an issue to you."

"Oh, that's great. I'm going to order some red wine when the waiter comes around." Anna and Elsa both paused their conversation to the waiter that just came by and asked if they were ready to order.

Elsa said, "No, I'm not ready yet. For now, I'd like this red wine right here." Elsa pointed at a red wine on the menu which she couldn't pronounce but she had it before. The waiter took down her order and left.

After the waiter left, Elsa said, "This is a nice place you picked out."

"Thank you, it's one of my family's favorites."

Elsa took the next moment to unroll her scarf and put it on the side of her chair, revealing a little bit more skin on her upper chest. This prompted a response from Anna.

"Wow, you look great. Beautifuller than me." Elsa noticed Anna's eyes and knew the girl instantly regretted what she said. "Well, not fuller, you don't look fuller, but more beautiful than me."

Elsa chuckled at Anna's awkwardness. "Thank you. You look great as well." Elsa took in a full rundown of what Anna was wearing. She was wearing a green shirt, skinny blue jeans, and black ballet flats. And as usual, her strawberry blonde hair was tied into two braids that rested on her shoulders.

Anna spoke after a few moments of silence, "You look worried."

"I do?"

"Yeah, I can tell it's showing."

"How?"

"Well, you don't look very happy, even though I'm here with you."

"No, I was thinking about...stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Work-related issues."

Before Anna could ask what Elsa's job was, the waiter came by to give Elsa her drink. After taking out the cork and pouring Elsa a glass of wine, the waiter left the bottle at the side of the table.

As Elsa sipped on her glass of wine, she took a look around her, finally taking in the whole of the small café she was dining at. Even though she was sitting in the back of the restaurant, Elsa still had quite a view, and she was even able to see out the windows. Her face broke into a small smile at the fading sunlight coming in through the windows.

Elsa's attention then turned back to Anna, who all of a sudden noticed Elsa staring at her. The small shock made Elsa giggle.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry," Elsa apologized.

"No! No, it's fine. My mind was just...wandering..."

"About...?"

"Random things. Sometimes, thoughts just pop into my head out of nowhere for no reason. You ever get that feeling?"

"All the time," Elsa agreed.

After a few moments of silence, Anna asked out of blind curiosity, "Who was that person who called you on the phone?"

"What person?"

"You know, the one on Tuesday."

Elsa shrugged, "Someone who's very keen on tasks getting done on time. A micromanager, in short."

Elsa continued after a few seconds, "Since you seem to be very curious about my life, it only seems fair that you tell me a little about yourself."

As Elsa took another sip of her drink, Anna began, "Well, any specifics?"

"What do your parents do?"

"Well, I think you know who my dad is by now. He's the founder and CEO of Nicholson International, an oil company, and my mother is a stay-at-home. Recently, I've been pretty worried about my family's safety since this rival oil company is competing with the oil fields that my dad owns, and they look serious on getting those fields."

"You think they might be lethal force to get them?"

Anna's eyes widened at the idea, "My God, I never thought about that. Personally I don't think so. But I know my dad's doing his best to keep the tensions down."

"He seems like a capable man."

"You've met him before?"

"No, no. I've seen him on the news though." Elsa winced at the lie.

"Oh, ok. You know, I'm okay with taking you to go see him. If you want," Anna took a sip from her water.

"Next week?"

"Sounds good to me."

Silence overtook them as Anna looked at Elsa as she listened to the noise of the restaurant. Elsa looked around once again, not forgetting what her true purpose here was.

Elsa was the first to once again break the silence between them, "Just out of curiosity-"

Before Elsa could continue, gunshots rang out towards Elsa and Anna's direction. At the same time, all hell broke loose in the restaurant. People started to duck under tables, and others fled through various exits throughout the cafe.

Among the shock and confusion, Elsa quickly sprang into action by flipping the table she and Anna were sitting at over on its side and pulling a beyond-than-shocked Anna to her side to take cover from the barrage of bullets coming towards their direction.

Anna yelled, "What the...?"

Elsa said to Anna, "We need to get out of here, now."

Anna nodded, and Elsa peeked out from the side of the table. All four of the men that had entered the restaurant, and who Elsa anticipated to be Voronkov's men, had taken cover behind overturned tables.

Turning around to face Anna, Elsa said, "Ok, when I say go, run as fast as you possibly can. And stay close. Understand?"

"Wait, what?"

"Just do as I say and we can get out of here alive!"

"Ok, ok. I understand."

A few moments passed and when Elsa was sure all of the gunmen were behind cover, Elsa shouted "Go!" to Anna, and they both made a run for the kitchen. At that point all of the gunmen opened fire on the two of them, but surprisingly, Elsa and Anna made it to the kitchen unscathed.

After finding an exit to the kitchen, Elsa asked, "Hey, doing alright?"

"No! We just got shot at! Who the hell are those guys?"

"It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here. I know a safe place, but you'll have to trust me, and stay close."

"Ok, you got it."

After checking to make sure the alleyway behind the cafe was clear, Elsa led Anna into a nearby alcove. That's when Elsa took off her purse and sorted through its contents before taking out a suppressed M9 and an earpiece.

While Elsa was putting on it, Anna asked, "What the...what are you doing?"

"Protecting us."

"I don't understand...wha..."

"This is where the trust part comes in."

Anna was clearly confused about why Elsa was carrying a gun in her purse, "Why do you have that?

"I'll explain later. For now, just follow me."

After checking to make sure the alleyway was once again clear, much to Elsa's surprise, she and Anna made a break for it. At the same time, the gunmen emerged from the back of the cafe kitchen, and opened fire on the two girls as they rounded a corner onto the street where the cafe was situated.

As Elsa and Anna were running down the street, Elsa was surprised to see how quickly the pedestrians fled. And also how the police still haven't responded to the gunfire.

Elsa decided to check in with Tombstone, "Alpha 2, Alpha Actual, what's your status?"

"_Alpha 1, this is Alpha 2. We are taking effective fire at the apartment building. We are strongholding our position, over._"

"Copy that 1-2. I have package Alpha November with me and I am heading towards your position, how copy?"

"_Alpha_-" Recker didn't get any further sending radio traffic, because now all Elsa heard was static.

"1-2, send again. You're breaking up! Over."

After hearing more radio static, Elsa said, "Shit. Anna, we need to double time it."

"Alright."

Picking up the pace, Anna and Elsa continued down the street. But it wasn't too long before Elsa heard a car coming up behind them, and turned around in anticipation. Sure enough, a black SUV drove up behind them, with the back seat passengers wielding large assault rifles out of the windows, aimed at both of the girls.

Not even stopping, the car came straight towards both of the girls. Elsa pushed Anna out of the way of the vehicle that was clearly going to run them over, and Elsa raised her gun and fired. The bullet hit the driver and the vehicle jerked to the left, and crashed into a building.

"Woah! That was-"

"Just keep moving Anna."

After a few minutes of fast-paced jogging and ducking behind corners whenever cars came by, Elsa finally arrived at the apartment building. She saw that the front of the building was littered with several bodies, civilians and Russian mercenaries.

"This is it, Anna. Follow me."

Elsa led Anna into the apartment building and up the stairs. Once they reached the floor where the CIA hideout was, Elsa another batch of dead bodies, all of whom again appeared to be Russian. But then Elsa's heart stopped when saw that the door to her room was blasted open, like a door charge had been placed on it.

Elsa whispered to herself "Oh shit..." as she entered her apartment. The whole place was in ruins. The walls had a lot of bullet holes, the dining table was overturned and filled with holes as well, and the video monitors were all shot to shit. Elsa continued to check out the apartment, and no one appeared to be alive.

Elsa whispered, "Stay here Anna, let me check the bedroom."

The blonde moved in to check the bedroom, and as she entered the doorway, a hand reached out from her left and pushed her gun downward, while another hand pointed a gun right at her face.

"Drop it motherfucker!" Elsa turned to see Pac, who after realizing it was Elsa, lowered his gun and said, "Damn, I need to drop this habit."

"What do you mean?"

"Long story." Turning towards the closet, Pac said, "It's ok guys, all clear."

At that moment, Recker, Irish, and Hannah came out from the bedroom closet, with Irish and Hannah holding up Recker.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Elsa asked.

Hannah said, "Recker took a bullet in the leg. He needs medical attention, so we need to get out of here."

Irish said, "We radioed back to Garrison, he's got evac heading towards Charles de Gaulle."

"We'll have to find an SUV then."

Irish continued, "Don't worry, we've already got Flynn on the way. Should be here any minute now."

"Alright then, let's go. I've got Anna with me, does anyone know the status on the others?"

Pac said, "A CIA agent picked them up when the gunfire started outside the apartment building, which was ten minutes ago."

"Where are they headed?"

"Charles de Gaulle."

"Then let's get a move on. Irish, Hannah, take Recker. Pac, you and I are providing cover."

And with that, the group left the apartment building for the last time. When they reached the front door, Flynn pulled up in his SUV in front the building.

Flynn shouted to them, "Heard you guys needed a ride!"

Elsa responded, "We do. We have wounded with us."

Flynn jumped out and opened the passenger door so Irish and Hannah could put Recker in. Recker flinched in pain when his leg made contact with the seat. After the rest of the group piled in, with Elsa riding in the front, Irish, Hannah, and Recker sitting in the middle, and Pac and Anna sitting in the back, Flynn sped off towards the highway that would lead to Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Flynn asked, "So what happened?"

Elsa said, "We got shot at, is what happened."

Irish asked in surprise, "Wait, you guys got shot at?"

"Yeah, a group of Voronkov's men just walked in and opened fire on me and Anna. We made it out of the restaurant, but had to drop a few of their guys. You?"

Irish said, "We were just cleaning up and everything when a bunch of guys breached the apartment and opened fire. We got lucky in not getting shot and we managed to hold them off."

Hannah piped in, "Only because you were there Irish."

"Yup."

Pac suddenly asked from the back of the car, "You know, if those were Voronkov's men, then what does this mean?"

Nobody in the car had actually considered the fact that they were attacked by Russian mercenaries. They had just assumed Voronkov to be behind it, but really didn't know what it meant.

Recker said in an aching voice, "Doctrine says that if you're fired upon, you can fire back at the shooter, and it technically isn't war. But if those were real Russian paramilitary, we're fucked."

Irish asked, "How?"

"Voronkov may have already declared war on us."

The statement silenced everyone in the car, and now the reality dawned on them that they may be up against a bigger enemy than they previously thought.

* * *

><p>Flynn announced, "Alright, this is our stop amigos." Flynn had stopped by one of the runways, after getting clearance from the police that they were CIA and needed to get out of Paris. Everyone hoped out onto the tarmac, and headed towards the parked C-130 Hercules that was their ticket outside of the city.<p>

As Irish and Hannah supported Recker, he told them to stop and turn him around to face Elsa.

Recker asked, "Does Anna know?"

Elsa stopped and responded, "Not yet. I'll tell her when we get to the Valkyrie."

Recker nodded, and winced in pain when he turned around and continued forward to the C-130.

After everyone was aboard the plane, the pilot was given the all-clear to take off. After starting up the engines, the plane began to move and slowly pick up speed, and it wasn't long before it was in the air and headed towards the Atlantic.

Elsa moved and sat next to Anna, and said, "Get some rest. It'll be about an hour, and I'll wake you when arrive at our destination."

"Ok. But one thing. Please explain to me everything that just happened in the past two hours when we arrive at our "destination.""

"Will do. Just get some rest."

* * *

><p>Anna awoke to the sound of a large door opening, and noticed that the plane had landed on a ship. She saw the man called Recker being carried out by a couple of medics, and when everyone else began to get off the plane, Anna followed suit.<p>

Once off the plane, she was signaled by Elsa to follow her, and Anna did so.

"Welcome aboard the USS Valkyrie. How was your nap?" Elsa asked.

"Ah, good. Got some much needed rest."

Anna noticed the rest of the army personnel they had been with head towards the bridge, but Elsa pulled her off to the side and guided Anna towards a set of stairs leading down to the lower decks.

After entering the inside of the ship, Elsa said, "Anna, I'm going to need you to wait in the medical bay with Sergeant Recker, the man who's wounded. He'll explain everything to you."

"But what about you?"

"Me? I need to go to the command bridge."

"But-"

"Anna, come on. I don't have time for this."

"Alright."

When Elsa and Anna arrived at the med bay, Recker was already situated in a medical bed, being tended to by a couple of doctors. After Elsa ushered her in and left, Anna walked towards Recker, who after a few moments acknowledged her presence. Anna sat down on the medical bed next to Recker's, and waited for the doctors to finish up on Recker.

After the doctors left, Recker looked up at Anna and said, "So, you must be Anna Nicholson."

"And you must be Sergeant Recker."

"That's me."

After a few moments of silence, Recker said, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions about what's going on, and our sudden departure from Paris. Let me explain everything."

Anna gave Recker her undivided attention, and Recker said, "You're probably wondering who the hell we are. We, as in Tombstone Squad. We're a part of the United States Marine Corps, and were assigned to a joint operation with the CIA to protect your family. This included me, Irish, Pac, Hannah, and Agent Winters, or Elsa to you."

"Wait, what?"

"Yes, Elsa was the CIA agent in charge of the operation, next to your father."

"My father was involved in this?"

"Your father contacted the CIA for close protection, and they sent Agent Winters in to help. Few weeks later, Tombstone Squad joins the operation. So whatever Elsa told you about your parents, is most likely not true. She knows both of your parents and worked closely with them in order for this protection operation to be successful. But, this meant keeping it a secret from you and your brother."

"But why?"

"We were afraid you wouldn't handle it well, or you might've let it slip at school. Either way, your father didn't want you and Olaf to know."

"But that's bullshit!"

"I know, but save it for Agent Winters. I'm not in charge of this operation."

Anna looked at the ground, trying to digest all of the information she had just received. Her world was turned upside at this point, Elsa being a CIA agent, getting shot at, the evacuation from Paris. She wasn't even sure if her family actually made it out alive.

"Sgt. Recker, do you know if my family is aboard?"

"Should be. They're probably in one of the sleeping areas. Speaking of which, I recommend you head up to the bridge. The guys up there should be expecting you."

"How do I get there?"

"Ask the guys outside to guide you there."

"Alright, it was nice talking to you Sgt. Recker."

"You too. Take care."

* * *

><p>After thanking the marine who guided her to the bridge, Anna opened the door to find a man in an officer's uniform and Elsa.<p>

Elsa said, "Hey Anna."

"Hey."

The officer asked, "Is this the girl?"

"Yes, captain."

The man approached Anna and held out his hand. He looked to be in his late fifties, with white hair and a mildly wrinkled face.

The man said, "I'm Captain Garrison, and I'm the captain of this vessel. You must be Mr. Nicholson's daughter, Anna."

"Pleased to meet you Captain Garrison." Anna shook Captain Garrison's hand.

"I apologize for your abrupt leave from Paris, but shit happens, right? Anyways, we've verified that the people who shot at you were indeed, mercenaries sent by Voronkov. At the moment, we're not making any plans to counter-attack, but we're going to see what Voronkov's next move is."

"What does this mean for my family?"

"Your father might be involved in some negotiation deals, but otherwise, you'll be safe here."

"Alright, thank you."

"Agent Winters, why don't you show Anna to her sleeping quarters?"

"Copy that."

Elsa then escorted Anna out of the command room, but not before being stopped by Anna.

"Hey wait."

Elsa turned around to face Anna, and immediately took note of her facial expression.

"I don't know what to say. You've known about me for several weeks and I've only known you for a week, and I don't even know if what you've told me about yourself is even true."

"Almost all of it is true, except for the part about me knowing your parents. Other than that, there isn't much to unlearn. Anyways, we can talk about it later. I have some stuff to do, and you shouldn't be here."

And with that, Elsa escorted Anna to her assigned sleeping quarters, with Anna's mind cluttered with thoughts about what was going on.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I would have to say, this chapter definitely took me a lot longer than expected, and was actually a lot harder to write. But don't worry, I've already got some ideas for the next few chapters. Anyways, thank you for reading, and if you'd like, follow/fav this story, and leave a review!**

**On a final note, once I'm finished with this story, I have an idea for another Frozen story. It involves the main concept behind the movie ****_The Truman Show_****. I plan for it to be a canon story that transitions into a modern AU. But for the most part, expect more details to be released when this story begins to wrap up.**


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